Rust and Bone

Gritty relationship drama will shock and/or move you
"De Rouille et D'os" (English title: "Rust and Bone"; 115 min.) is a 2012 French-Belgian co-production that was first released at the 2012 Cannes film festival. The movie is directed by Jacques Audiar, the guy who brought us the excellent "The Prophet" movie a few years ago. The movie stars Belgian actor Matthias Schoenarts as Ali, who along with his 5 yr. old son, and down on his luck, is moving in with his sister and her husband in Antibes (Southern France). Ali is the muscular type, and he finds a job as a bouncer in a local night club, where he eventually meets Stephanie (played by Marion Cotillard). Stephanie works as a killer whale trainer at the local waterpark. Stephanie is, like Ali, a strong-willed person and their relationship is not an easy one. Then one day Stephanie gets involved in a horrible accident at work, losing both her legs. To say that this throws her world upside down would be the understatement of the year. It also has immediate consequences on her...

In defense of 'Rust and Bone'
I'm writing this review in defense of 'Rust and Bone' after seeing EW's Owen Gleiberman pick it as one of his "Worst Movies of 2012." Granted, this latest offering from French director Jacques Audiard doesn't measure up to A Prophet (Un proph?te), but that's like taking Francis Ford Coppola to task for not matching the greatness of 'The Godfather' (no, that's not sacrilege: 'A Prophet' is that good).

Gleiberman gripes that star Marion Cotillard is "forced to flail and mood-swing from scene to scene [and] (i)n an insult to the disabled, there is never much to her but her hellacious injury."

I'm wondering what movie he saw. What we saw was what we thought was a very realistic depiction of the trauma and long period of despair that someone involved in a catastrophic injury of this nature would endure. Far from there being "never much to her but her hellacious injury," Cotillard's character...

Superb Story of Triumph through adversity
Alain is taking his son from Belgium to Antibes to live with his sister. Once there he gets a job as a door guard at a night club, and one evening he comes to the aid of a lady in distress. That lady is Stephanie played brilliantly by Marion Cottillard (`Contagion' and `La vie en rose'). Stephanie is an Orca trainer or killer whale trainer as we used to call these beautiful creatures. She suffers an irreversible accident whilst at work and understandably falls off the radar and becomes a virtual recluse.

Then she calls up Alain and asks him to visit her as it was clear from the start that there was a spark. He duly obliges and a new relationship blossoms, however he needs some ready cash and turns to bare knuckle fist fights to make up the short fall. What develops is a deeply engrossing and engaging tale of a journey towards each other for the two main players.

This is a film by Jacques' Audiard (`A Prophet' and `The Beat My Heart Skipped') and he took his...

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