User Reviews

I made a special effort to go to see this as it was only showing at one cinema in London.Sad to say it was a wasted journey.The first half hour set in Paris was quite amusing.however when it got to Los Angeles the film really lost its way.Every character that the actress met was either odd or just plain crazy.The main actress seemed to think that wildly overacting equaled funny,well it doesn't in my book.Furthermore to make matters worse she would sometimes be addressing characters in french and other times in English and they would respond accordingly.So it became impossible at times to work out exactly what was being said in what language.The film was 107 minutes long and that was at least 15 minutes too long.I think that The Artist is a far superior French view of Hollywood.

I really enjoyed the movie. It had some cringe moments that I think, everyone experiences once in a while. Florence Foresti played the part of Jeanne perfectly and the jokes made everyone laugh. Some of the scenes were definitely cringe-worthy but they made for a good movie. I thought the plot line was OK, however, it got a bit confusing in the middle, but it worked out in the end. I think the subtitles could be a little slower, as I found them too fast to read. This is not one of my favorite movies, but it is great to watch in class.

Read it here: http://squeerelist.blogspot.com/2013/06/hollywoo-2011.html

Jennifer Marshall is Hollywood's It Girl starring in the over-publicized TV show L.A. Couples. Jeanne is her French dubbing artist whose career depends on Marshall's fame. When Jennifer decides to retire after her co-star and boyfriend cheats on her, Jeanne feels like her own career is over. She flies to LA to meet Jennifer and try to make her reconsider... It's a funny and fresh movie displaying the views of the French on Hollywood and its excessive way of life. The main actors are very popular French comedians (Florence Foresti & Jamel Debbouze) and I think you'll find this movie funny if you already know Foresti's work. It may not be a good movie for someone who is not into contemporary French culture. The cast is very eclectic and you'll find American, French, Canadian actors and more. Hollywoo may not end up in my Top 10 Comedies but I spent an enjoyable moment watching it. You should definitely give it a try and share your opinion with me!

1 reason to watch: if you have any interest in French comedians

I have personally never watched a french movie meaning it didn't have any movie to compete with but i was amused but kind of disappointed. I watched this movie in french class and it was a good choice as we aren't fluent in french so the subtitles and English scenes were helpful.The plot was clear and a some scenes were funny mainly because it was cringe-worthy but generally had some good scenes. The characters were weird some in a good way and some in a bad way. All in all i still would recommend this movie as it is still entertaining and appropriate for people who know french, studying french or someone interested in the language.

I can understand why this movie was not a big success. It plays on the idea of a dual culture. Florence Foresti and Jamel Debouze are constantly switching between broken English and french and making fun of a lot of American stereotypes and on the way French people speak English. After having lived for a while in the US, I found myself laughing a lot just because I got the reference. They might be super witty but it was enough for me. Foresti was playing her usual character (the one in her stand up comedy) so it was funny if you already like that exuberant character. Jamel played a character that I think he never played before: a kind of Arsene Lupin of this century and I think it was a surprising element of this movie. To conclude, I would say that it's the kind of movie that would mostly appeal to people knowing a bit of both French and American culture and speaking both language helps too.

First of all let's get one thing straight; this film does not set itself out to be a classic!

I have watched many great French movies over the years and whilst this film is a long way from being one of my favourites, it is nonetheless a fun easy-to-watch film and this is precisely what the films sets out to be! There are some humorous scenes in this film and the two main actors play their roles well. You might not burst out laughing but you will certainly smile to yourself whilst watching the film. I think people who give the film negative reviews must take themselves and films in general way too seriously. The film is a great one to watch if you are studying French as it gives you a chance to see French and English together. You can see how the French view American culture and see the French laugh at themselves struggling with English. If every time you watched a film you expected it to be a masterpiece then more often than not you will be disappointed. However if like me, sometimes you just want to watch something entertaining (and maybe challenge your French), then this film is great for that!

This movie will never come to the U.S., and that's a shame, because it's very clever, and gives a wonderful glimpse of how Americans are seen by the French. It tells the story of a young French actress, of sorts, who earns her living dubbing the voice of a glamorous American TV star who appears in a soap opera that has become very popular in France. The American star decides to quit the series, which means that the French actress will lose her one decent job. She goes to Hollywood to try to convince the American to stay on the show. In the process, we get to see a French director's presentation of modern-day Hollywood to the French. VERY different from the current Franco-American hit The Artist, which is a better film, but still very much worth watching.

The movie got confusing in some parts, making hard to keep up with it. However, it didn't take too long for it to get to the point which can ruin some films. But it does have some cringe moments. Despite the cringe, it did make the film quite funny and entertaining. As in the title, it was decent as there were some good moments, but there are quite a few areas where it could be improved on.

The plot was clear from the beginning, but some parts of the movie did not seem that important and were not so funny either. I have watch a couple of French movies but this one was not up to those standards. It seemed like you had seen almost all of the scenes before in other movies, but some were new. The new ones were the funniest scenes because you did not know what to expect. Some areas of the movie were great. However, some were just dumb and very cringe. The main female character was descent, but she was sometimes just annoying to listen to and her actions were infuriating. She seemed like a person I have met before but I do not really think that her personality matched everything about the movie. The main male character was actually funnier than her. He made the movie better and more interesting. I really liked that there were subtitles, because it made it easier to understand everything they were saying in French and also made it easier to know when they were talking French and when they were talking English. Basically, the movie was mostly entertaining but there were some parts that were just boring and cringe worthy.

I cannot say that I particularly enjoyed watching this film. The film was often confusing at times because the characters would switch between French and English so often; in the end I wasn't sure which characters understood French. Jeanne (the main character) would often address Jeniffer (the Hollywood actress) in French, and Jeniffer would reply in English, even though it was made clear on several occasions she does not speak or understand French. However, some parts of the movie were entertaining, and made me laugh. I also thought that the film ending was kind of predictable, and the main characters were generally annoying, and the acting wasn't great. Overall, the movie was easy to watch, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has not yet watched it.

The super stupid plot is about Jeanne, a French woman who's the voice of Jennifer, an American soap star. Jeanne gets unemployed and decides to travels to L. A. when Jennifer decides to quit the soap for personal reasons.

In L. A. Jeanne meets Farres, a French guy, and both of them get involved in super stupid antics.

I am not French, but I speak both English and French and I found the dialogues extremely irritating because Jeanne's English is horrible and she mixes French and English words, and the Americans are equally bad with their spoken French.

Strictly for the French market, because the two leads, Foresti and Debbouze, are famous comedians - in France - which means that their French audience is probably convinced they are funny when they are not. Foresti in particular is unbearable and overact like crazy.

Hollywoo is probably not a movie to watch with your grandparent. In this movie, get ready to watch a dodgy love movie, see cringe-worthy jokes, find a predictable ending and absurd relationships. It was not good. However, if you are an English student learning french, it has a good range of difficult vocabulary to learn. As a whole, this movie has a cringe factor of 11/10, sad jokes and about 10 minutes too long. To be fair, the acting was well done and I liked the concept of switching back and forth between English and french. So, i would rate this movie a 6/10 because it is definitely not the best movie I've seen, but not the worst by far.

An extraordinary piece of art. The acting was the best acting since StarWars 5. Dialogues were easy to laugh at, but the subtitles were a bit too fast for me to read. Otherwise, great movie and I have to give a special thanks to the security guard, who became my idol as well as my favorite actor. One improvement that could be made, is that they could have based the movie on the street gang instead of the boring french girl. This movie has changed my life in many ways, for example it inspired my artwork (wire insects) and it improved my relationship with my dog. Overall, I definitely suggest this movie for all ages and everyone. If you're reading this review, stop here and watch the movie.

This movie is made by French people, for French people !! It wasn't made in an international purpose. The Americans and British won't be able to understand every subtleties. Anyway, I'm French and I loved every second of it ! It's funny, but very intelligent and there are some excellent critics too. I'm really sad for those who can't appreciate it, but every country has its humorists. It is such a subjective matter in the first place, if you change the country it's even more difficult ! I don't (and can't) judge the humorists in other countries than mine because I don't really have the tools to do so. And I guess it's the same almost every single time in the other way around. Florence Foresti is a great comedian and a great person. But still, her audience is essentially french and will remain that way because it's a very complicated and beautiful language. I just want to say : Bravo Madame Foresti !!!

I don't speak French and I still thought this film was great. Florence Foresti is hilarious. I won't say that she's subtle in any way, but her physical humour is skilled, clever and mad. If she's also an unknown to you, then I suggest that if you like American female comedy (Bridesmaids, Pitch Perfect, Kirsten Wiig, Tina Fey, Mary McCarthy), then you should like this film, Francophone or not. The humour is physical as much as verbal, and either way, pretty damn funny.

I am neither French, nor American and so this film crossed several cultural boundaries for me. I suspect that I found some things funny that French and American audiences might not. Yes, I'm sure I missed some of the French jokes, and if you don't speak French you probably will too. Don't let that put you off. Dive in and enjoy!