5 TO 7 - review

5 TO 7
Director: Victor Levin
Cast: Anton Yelchin, Bérénice Marlohe, Lambert Wilson, Glenn Close, Frank Langella, Olivia Thirlby

Synopsis: An aspiring novelist enters into a relationship with a woman, though there's just one catch: she's married, and the couple can only meet between the hours of 5 and 7 each evening. 

And so passes another Friday off, where I pursue my favourite pasttime of viewing films, curled up in the cinema, just me, my crochet and a small box of Maltesers. This Friday took my to a lovely piece of cinema 5 TO 7. Very Woody Allen-esque, the kind of romance that I haven't seen since Audrey Hepburn. Ok, maybe I've seen some good ones since then, but that's what 5 TO 7 reminded me off. A classic piece of romance that could have been played out by Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Sound like a treat to you? Well if it does then you should definitely go and catch this film while you can. Sadly I don't think it's going to have a very long season (there were only 4 other people in the cinema this morning and the staff mentioned that it wasn't pulling very big crowds) and that's disappointing because it deserves an audience.

Brian, a young 20-something, would be novelist (Anton Yelchin) in New York takes a chance and crosses the road to approach a beautiful woman (Bérénice Marlohe) having a cigarette and looking all glamourous, he flirts with her in French and it goes well. She asks him to meet her at the same place the following Friday. He does, and he also asks her out to which she replies that of course she can but she's only free from 5 to 7. Not realising that this means, lets start a beautifully French extra-marital affair, he agrees to meet her again. The poor pet is distraught when he discovers what 5 to 7 means, and that she is the wife of a French diplomat (Lambert Wilson) who has a mistress of his own, and ois the mother of two beautiful children. His ethics prevent him from going any further with an affair, but his attraction to her only lets him keep his moral code for three short weeks. They continue to pursue the affair, he is welcomed into the family along with the husband's mistress and a whole stack of high profile guests.

Bérénice Marlohe and Anton Yelchin

image via IFC Films

Brian befriends Valery's mistress Jane (Olivia Thirlby) who is somewhat helpful in her advice on how to deal with this very unconventional situation, but Brian quickly spirals out of control and cannot cope with the rules of the 5 to 7 life that he is leading. He introduces her to his parents, the spectatularly cast Glenn Close and Frank Langella, who play the Jewish parents well. Sam (Langella) constantly pesters him about law school and cannot grasp the concept of his son being involved with a married French woman, and Arlene (Close) who knows that there are "two forces in on earth you never want to be fighting, Mother Nature and love".

Glenn Close and Frank Langella

image via IFC Films

It is a certain kind of romantic who can sit through a film about a love that is doomed, knowing that heartbreak is iminient. We have all had that one love that we know is doomed and yet we pursue it anyway, always living in hope that it will all work out for the best, knowing in our hearts that it won't.  5 TO 7 brings that hope to life and although the film is full of clichés, there are some laugh out loud one liners, and some truly tender moments that make you sure you can believe in true love, which is a rare commoditiy in this world.

Bérénice Marlohe and Anton Yelchin - seriously he is so adorable

image via IFC Films

The direction is spectacular and if I didn't know that Victor Levin was the director, I could swear that Woody Allen was in there somewhere. For those of you that don't like a Woody Allen film, his influence is there in a good way, trust me. The casting is exceptional and it is one of those films where I didn't see actors, I saw people, which is a nice change for me. At an hour 35, 5 TO 7 didn't feel like a long film, which to me is the sign of a captivating storyline, and I'm telling you, this film deserved the award it won at the festival season in 2014 and the nomination it received at the 2015 - Nominee Best Narrative Feature (2015 Palm Springs International Film Festival) and Best American Film (2014 Traverse City Film Festival), both audience awards, so it just goes to show that people know what's they're talking about.

If you like the story of a doomed love, and you miss the romantic films of yore, the set aside some time to go and fork out your 20-something dollars to see 5 TO 7, I highly recommend it. It has quickly become onw of my favourite romance films of the year.

4 out of 5

xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell