SUMMER HOURS - A FRENCH CINEMA TREAT

While the wet spring season has been holding on longer than usual in the U.S. this year, along comes a French cinema treat by Olivier Assayas to remind us of what the lazy days of summer and family holidays are like.

l'Heure d'ete/ Summer Hours takes us inside the life of a family of the French cultural elite living just outside Paris.   At the start of the movie, the matriarch- Helene -played with such sophistication by Edith Scob is about to celebrate her 75th Birthday.   Her children and grandchildren are arriving for the celebration to the house that was once bustling with life - but is now more of a sleeping giant.

Juliette Binoche plays Adrienne - the successful designer living in New York who can barely make it back to France  once or twice a year due to her busy lifestyle.

Jeremie Renier plays Jeremie - the marketing executive who's career has taken him and his family to China, making trips home to France less and less often.

Charles Berling plays Frederic - the published economist who lives with his family in Paris.   Frederic is both physically and emotionally closer to his mother than his brother or sister.

The charm of Summer Hours is that anyone who has moved away from their childhood community can relate to the film.   The dynamics between siblings are shaped by these decisions we make.   The film shows us the best case scenario for dealing with the difficult choices that are part of life.   While there can be tense times - there doesn't need to be drama.

Juliette Binoche is a pleasure to watch on screen.   Whatever her beauty secret is - she should market it.   Ms. Binoche still looks like a young woman in her early thirties.

French films are such a pleasure because they weave a story without presenting it all wrapped up with a bow.   American films are too often beginning, middle, end.    French films are known for letting a story unfold and taking you in directions that you didn't expect to go - and ending not where you thought.    Summer Hours is such a film and it is really a charming way to spend a summer evening.

l'Heure d'ete / Summer Hours is playing in limited release.   Look for it in your area or buy the DVD when you can.   Watch the trailer below: