''Summer Things'' (; , also known as ''See How They Run'') is a 2002 romantic

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by

Michel Blanc Michel Blanc (16 April 1952 – 3 October 2024) was a French actor, writer and director. He is noted for his roles of losers and hypochondriacs. He is frequently associated with Le Splendid, which he co-founded, along with Thierry Lhermitte, ...

, based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Joseph Connolly. The ensemble cast includes

Charlotte Rampling Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress. An icon of the Swinging London, Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role of Meredith in the 1966 film ''Georgy Girl'', which starred Lynn ...

Jacques Dutronc Jacques Dutronc (; born 28 April 1943) is a French singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer, and actor. Some of Dutronc's best-known hits include " Il est cinq heures, Paris s'éveille" (which AllMusic has called "his finest hour"), "Le Responsa ...

Carole Bouquet Carole Bouquet (born 18 August 1957) is a French actress who has appeared in more than 60 films since 1977. In 1990, she was awarded the César Award for Best Actress for her role in '' Too Beautiful for You''. Life and career Bouquet was bor ...

Karin Viard Karin Viard (; born 24 January 1966) is a French actress. She made her film debut in '' Tatie Danielle'' in 1990. She has appeared in films such as ''Delicatessen'', '' L'Emploi du temps'', ''Adultère, mode d'emploi'' and ''La parenthèse encha ...

Gaspard Ulliel Gaspard Thomas Ulliel (; 25 November 198419 January 2022) was a French actor and model. He was known for having portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in ''Hannibal Rising'' (2007), fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic '' Saint Laure ...

and

Mélanie Laurent Mélanie Laurent (; born 21 February 1983) is a French actress and filmmaker. She has received two César Awards and a Lumière Award. Internationally, Laurent is known for her roles in ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009), '' Now You See Me'' (2013 ...

. The film is a co-production between France, the United Kingdom and Italy. The film was released to critical acclaim and was a box-office hit in France, with over 1 million tickets sold. Karin Viard won the

César Award for Best Supporting Actress The César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (French: ''César de la meilleure actrice dans un second rôle'') is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the ''Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma'' to recognize the outst ...

for her performance as Véronique. Gaspard Ulliel won the

Lumière Award for Most Promising Actor Lumière is French for 'light'. Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to: Buildings * Lumière, a building used by the Bibliothèque publique d'information in Paris, France * Lumiere (skyscraper), a cancelled skyscraper development in Leeds, ...

for his performance as Loïc.

Plot

Elizabeth and Bertrand are typical representatives of Parisian society. Behind the facade of a perfect marriage is dissatisfaction and boredom. He is a successful real estate agent having fun with much younger women or men behind the back of his wife. She suffers under the crushing uneventful life of a housewife and looks forward to a family holiday with daughter Emily. Bertrand backs out at the last minute and sends in his place Julie, Elizabeth's best friend and his former lover. He is free for a new love affair in Paris. The neighbors, Véro and Jérôme have very different problems. Jérôme is unemployed and collects gas meters. He hides his feelings of failure from Véro and son Loic. Since Véro wants to keep up with the neighbors, both families end up in the same resort. Numerous mistakes, misunderstandings and surprises are inevitable.

Cast

as Elizabeth Lannier *

as Bertrand Lannier *

as Lulu *

as Jean-Pierre *

as Véronique *

Denis Podalydès Denis Podalydès (; born 22 April 1963) is a French actor, scriptwriter, and theatre director of Greek descent. Podalydès has appeared in more than 140 films and television shows since 1989. He starred in '' The Officers' Ward'', which was ente ...

as Jérôme *

Clotilde Courau Clotilde Marie Pascale di Savoia, Princess of Venice (née Clotilde Marie Pascale Courau; born 3 April 1969) is a French actress. She was married to Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. Burke's Royal Families of the World ...

as Julie *

Vincent Elbaz Vincent Elbaz (born 3 February 1971) is a French actor. He has appeared in many French television shows and films. His first major role was in the 1994 film ''Le péril jeune''. Elbaz received the 1998 Jean Gabin Prize. Elbaz was born in Paris ...

as Maxime *

Lou Doillon Lou Doillon (born 4 September 1982) is a French-British singer and actress. She is the daughter of French director Jacques Doillon and English actress and singer Jane Birkin. Doillon started her career as a model during her teenage years and ...

as Emilie *

Sami Bouajila Sami Bouajila (born 26 May 1966) is a Tunisian-French actor who has won two César Awards. Bouajila has worked and acted in two Oscar nominated films ('' Days of Glory'' and '' Outside the Law''), both directed by director Rachid Bouchareb. Earl ...

as Kévin *

as Loïc *

as Carole

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 100%, based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10.

AlloCiné AlloCiné is an entertainment website founded by Jean-David Blanc in 1988, then joined by Patrick Holzman. It has belonged to the company since 2013 Webedia. which specializes in providing information on French cinema, mostly centering on nove ...

, a French cinema website, gave the film an average rating of 4.0/5, based on a survey of 23 French reviews.

Box office

In France, ''Summer Things'' was released to 408 screens, where it debuted at number three at the box office, selling 480,951 tickets. It sold a total of 1,336,579 tickets after 6 weeks in cinemas, ranking at number 24 of the highest-grossing films in France in 2002. The film grossed a total of $8,738,101 worldwide.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2002 films 2002 romantic comedy-drama films 2002 LGBTQ-related films 2000s French-language films 2000s British films 2000s French films Films based on British novels British romantic comedy-drama films Italian romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Michel Blanc French romantic comedy-drama films French LGBTQ-related films British LGBTQ-related films Italian LGBTQ-related films LGBTQ-related romantic comedy-drama films Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress César Award–winning performance