Let's be realistic.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Separated from his stepdaughter, raised for eight years as his own, after the girl's mother dies in a car crash, a pianist begins to mistake his fatherly affection towards her for romantic love, which causes a problem since the girl feels the same way and is set on taking her mother's place in this controversial Bertrand Blier film. The movie is actually far less sleazy than it might sound from the outset; there is relatively little in the way of nudity and lovemaking with the film instead focused on the mental dynamics between the pair, neither quite sure how properly express their strong feelings for one another. Things seem to get even more interesting as the girl's birth father catches on to how intimate the pair have become since the mother's death, and yet the film's meandering second half does the material no justice. There is so much build-up and tension leading up to the pair taking things too far that the film has trouble refocusing afterwards. That said, the movie ends on a pitch perfect suggestive final note. The gliding cinematography courtesy of the legendary Sacha Vierny is also excellent throughout with mirrored surfaces nicely favoured for a film about two individuals forced to reflect upon themselves. Blier additionally uses an interesting technique of having a handful of characters talk to the camera to provide narration, though the inconsistency of the narration is a tad jarring.

Beau Pere is a film that works on a variety of levels- comedy, drama, tragedy, romance. It hits directly on target on a number of areas. Unsurprisingly, as a story about a 30-year-old man who has an affair with his 14-year-old stepdaughter- played by an underage actress with nude scenes- Beau Pere has been derided in North America as exploitation. It's not. There are no explicit sex scenes, and what nudity there is adds to the film.Despite puritanical complaints, this is not a film promoting sex with minors. A deeper look of the film suggests the reverse. The stepfather Remi and stepdaughter Marion are both sick people. Remi is faced with blow after blow, a struggling career, threatened poverty, a failing marriage, death of a loved one, loss of a home. Marion gets an appalling shock when her mother is killed in a car crash. They try to pick up the pieces, but sexual confusion creeps in. The relationship may be sick, the love may be twisted, but these characters are always sympathetic. Remi knows the affair is wrong and in the end tries to move towards an adult woman, but the shift to normalcy may be gradual, and there is a sinister hint that history can repeat itself.Both of the main characters are portrayed well (Dewaere has sad eyes) and the film doesn't have many flaws apart from the car accident scene in the beginning which is a little too goofy. The movie has a lot of similarities to Lolita, but enough differences to make it worthwhile. In fact, I prefer it to Kubrick's film (and I'm a Kubrick fan). Beau Pere worked with me as a sorrowful drama the first time I watched it, and on second viewing I could appreciate how funny it is as well. Encore!

"Beau Pere" was banned in Ontario when it first came out (the ban has since been lifted).In Canada, the age of consent is 14 years for both men and women, and sex between a step-father and step-daughter is not considered incest. Remi would be in trouble for the fact that his step-daughter is only 15. He would be considered betraying a trust. A step-brother and step-sister can marry, so can two first cousins (now people of the same sex can marry), but not a step-parent and child. I really don't think Canada is worse off for this.If you want smut, you should look somewhere else. It really is not smut, and you're wasting your time for something which is not worth the search. The plot ideas suggest smut, but this is a movie where the sex gets between the plot. In smut, the plot gets between the sex.Children sometimes are sexually attracted to parents or step-parents, and parents to children, as in this movie. Marion is the one attracted to Remi. He really is not interested in her. It looks like he thinks he is doing her a favour when he yields to her and has sex with her. It does not seem like lust on his part. He seems to be loving towards her. It seems to be a twisted way to love (more on that later). Later, they jump into sex, but its' not just sex. It's the desire to be close which leads them to have sex. Its' not really lust for Marion, just a desire to be close to Remi. She wants someone to be close with her, including in the sexual way. She turns down the chance to have sex with boys her age.Marion seems none the worse for her sexual experiences. She breaks the relationship, and seems to be thinking that she should move on and moves in with her father, who she does not see in a sexual way. I think in reality, a parent or step-parent who has sex with a child, even if it's the childs' idea, risks opening a door which should remain closed. The physical pleasures of sex can be gotten from another source. The mental damage and the tearing up of boundaries probably is too high a price. Relationships like this belong in the movies.Interestingly, at the end, Remys' possible future step-daughter sees him and her mother making love. Is this a possible future relationship?

A superior work that takes itself seriously, but avoids the tiresome moralizing so often accompnaying American films of the same subject matter. See it if you can.