129. Sorry Angel (Plaire, aimer et courir vite) movie review

SORRY ANGEL (PLAIRE, AIMER ET COURIR VITE)
Cert 15
133 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong sex, language

There seems to be a running theme that whenever the main character of a film is gay, they are self-centred.
Why? Surely, there are gay people who don't have difficulties with relationships and are not rude to almost everyone.
Indeed, I am bamboozled as to why anyone would fall for such prize pillocks but it seems that many people do and they don't mind spreading the love.
True, Pierre Deladonchamps' Jacques Tondelli is a handsome chap with an alluring smile but that alone can't make him irresistible, can it?
Is it his gift for words? I doubt it. I have made my money from writing for nearly 40 years but I have never had anyone throwing themselves at me, whatever their sexual proclivity.
Even Tordelli's Aids virus doesn't put off potential lovers - this is surprising when set against a 1990s backdrop when it was incurable.
Regardless, 22-year-old Arthur (Vincent Lacoste) falls for Tordelli, in his late 30s, and Christophe Honoré's movie focuses on the two and fro between the two of them.
Meanwhile, Tordelli has to handle a relationship with a young son (Tristan Farge) who has more maturity than he does.
As readers can probably gather, I didn't like Deladonchamps' character. Consequently, because he is so pivotal, I struggled with the film overall.
Over and over again, he is unkind to those around him, be they neighbours, so-called friends, lovers or even his son.
Over the years, I have seen many movies about the fall-out of Aids. Each time I have felt pity for either fictional or real people. I'm afraid the one in Sorry Angel, engendered despair in a different way.

Reasons to watch: The beutiful people - at least superficially
Reasons to avoid: The unlikeable central character

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: Bare bums
Overall rating: 4/10

Did you know? In 2017, 200 000 French adults were living with HIV and 64,000 of those were women.

The final word. Christophe Honoré: "I’m inconsolable today as a filmmaker and writer who was never able to cross paths with the idols from my youth. I was never able to meet the homosexual artists who were especially important to me during the ’90s—in literature, Hervé Guibert [1955-91] and  Bernard-Marie Koltès [1948-89]; in the cinema, Jacques Demy [1931-90], Serge Daney [1944-92], or even Cyril Collard [1957-93]."

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