Review for He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not

Director: Laetitia Colombani
Released: 2002
Genre: Thriller

He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not is a French film, released in 2002. It is an interesting study on the effects of De Clerambault's syndrome, or erotomania. The film involves an obsessive stalker, the man she is infatuated with, and the effects such behavior has on everyone in their lives. The overall premise is not very original, but the manner in which it is played out is very engaging.

The movie stars Audrey Tautou, an actress most notable for her work in Amelie and The Di Vinci Code. It starts off as an innocent romantic film, complete with cheesy opening credits- in fact, they're a little too cheesy. They help to create a shiny, false veneer as Tautou, who plays a soft spoken, cheerful, attractive young woman named Angelique, buys a rose for the love of her life, Loic. Angelique works at a restaurant, whereas Loic is a cardiologist. Things seem to be going swimmingly in her life, until certain behavioral inconsistencies arise: a few minutes after the opening sequence, Angelique is shown in her art class, where a male model is posing for the students to draw... only she isn't drawing the model, but rather Loic himself. Her teacher asks why she doesn't draw the man in front of her, and asks for her to start over.

Later we see Angelique at a social function, where she talks about Loic with her friend. We are led to believe that the two are having an affair, as we discover Loic is married. After the party Loic drives her home to the tune of "L is for the way you look at me," something she sees as a wonderful moment to be cherished. A few days later, Angelique talks about how Loic has left his wife (who miscarried while five months pregnant) and put a brochure about Italy in her mailbox, and how the two are going there to vacation. Later on, we see that Loic never showed up at the airport, and Angelique is left alone. By this time it is clear that Angelique is stalking Loic, convinced he is in love with her.

After about 45 minutes of Angelique's account of these events, the film rewinds and shows the occurrances according to Loic's point of view. What we see is an unknown and obsessive admirer who tears the cardiologist's life apart; his wife suspects he is cheating on her when a total of 23 messages playing "L is for the way you look at me" are left one day on his home phone. He receives paintings of himself at his office, and sketches of himself and his son on a park bench. One day, Angelique's best friend (a med student who likes Angelique and is convinced that Loic is destroying her life) confronts the doctor, who is utterly baffled by the accusations. After becoming increasingly paranoid, Loic assaults one of his female patients who he believes is the stalker. She decides to file charges, and the story is televised that day. What follows is a merging of the two perspectives after Angelique, realizing that her actions have resulted in Loic's arrest, attempts suicide.

The film's final thirty minutes are quite thrilling, but unfortunately I can't give any more away- it would spoil everything. Suffice it to say, He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not is definitely worth a watch, and will certainly make you look over your shoulder more often after you see it.

3.00/4.00