Some words on a film we saw on Sunday which is based on the true story of a Frenchman who based his life on pretending being a doctor. For 18 years he mislead his wife and children and when they found out he killed them and tried to kill himself. The guy is now in prison and told his life story to Emmanuel Carrère who transformed it into the book L'Adversaire (the opponent) which has also been filmed by Nicole Garcia featuring Daniel Auteuil as the con man.

Laurent Cantet's movie L'Emploi du Temps (Time Out) (reviews) takes the basic elements of the story and varies it a little. The main character Vincent brilliantly played by Aurélien Recoing is fired from his consultancy firm. Out of shame he decides not to tell his family and tries to continue as if nothing has happened. He spends his days killing time in his car, in hotel lounges and later in an empty farmhouse in Switzerland. In the evening he usually comes back late to give the impression that he has worked hard.

In some way or other most people act and show off in their lives and they know it but Vincent is an extreme. It is a much harder job to lie every day to your family and friends than to follow a normal working life and it takes a lot of energy out of you. You need an amazing memory not to contradict yourself which is only possible if you believe in your own lies. And you also need a lot of fantasy to tell about what you were supposedly doing at work. Vincent has both. His whole life after the sack is built on lies. At the end the only person still believing in his concoction of lies is actually himself. Vincent cannot tell the truth as it would mean admitting that according to his high standards he is a loser. And he would have to give up his identity which has become the identity of an actor. Recoing is most convincing when he smiles. He has the ability to smile in a way that the spectator knows the smile is false.

Summary: A brilliant existentialist film on the dichotomy of what we really are and what we want the others to believe we are which explores all the psychological depths of this theme.