couple things straight off the bat. 1) i'm not a big fan of french films. 2) the beat that my heart skipped is a remake of a 1978 american film, "fingers", starring havey keitel, which i have not seen.
the film's premise is definitely an interesting one. tom, the main character, is torn between doing his father's dirty work (beating up people to collect debts, running people out of buildings so his father can buy them), and following in his mother's footsteps of being a concert pianist. tom hasn't played piano in 10 years, and then has a chance encounter with his mother's manager who offers tom an audition. i'm not going to spoil the plot since i know everyone is going to rush out and rent this movie. but i will say that after thinking about the movie i was pleasantly surprised.
the premise of being redeemed by art is very compelling, and tom struggles the entire film with going back to his old ways. amazingly, this film doesn't end with suicide (or death of any kind, for that matter), a narcissistic voice over, or group sex (all stereotypical french film endings). so for that i was thankful. romain duris, who plays tom, gives a very intense and emotional performance that can only truly be appreciated with multiple viewings. be warned, there is the obligatory affair subplot, which is all stereotypical for french films. it doesn't go anywhere, except implying that tom can't find his happiness here. there are some cool comments about breaking language barriers, struggling with identity and purpose, and parent/child relationships.
great hand held camera work and an intense character study make this film definitely worth checking out, but i wouldn't say it's accessible. you usually have to work pretty hard for a french film. 3 out of 5.
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