"A Very Long Engagement" is probably the best foreign language movie I've seen this year. I've seen two while living in Switzerland and "Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles" is solidly-how do I say this-KICK ASS.

I know it's a cliché to say so, but "Un Long Diamanche…" actually does have everything you go to the movies to see. It has war, legitimate romance, beautiful cinematography and the of course sex, yea! What do you expect? It's a French film.

Directly translated to "A Long Sunday of Engagements," which makes no sense for the movie, the picture's tale is about Matilde's search for her girlhood friend and eventual fiancée after hearing he's Missing In Action (MIA) after France's involvement in WWI.

As her search gets more involved, she keeps finding clues as to what has really happened to fiancée Manech, who ends up being left for dead when he gets himself shot in hopes of being discharged from the front lines.

Before you get all pissed at me, I DID NOT just give away the ending. He being condemned to death, along with four other soldiers, is a major part of the storyline. Matilde belives she can feel his presence in the world and is not convinced he's actually dead. Eventually, she begins to find clues leading to his whereabouts from others that survived the ordeals of the front lines. She puts an ad in the local papers, trying to get letters from those who may know anything about Manech, and hires a private director.

I think pretty much every shot in the picture is magnificent with credit to cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, who deserve recognition coming Oscar time. He was previously nominated for "Amélie," also from France.

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet has absolutely outdone himself as his style has matured into something jay dropping. His work on "Amélie" was well recognized internationally, but "Un Long Dimanche…" should be proclaimed his hands-down best achievement; far from his more quirky French efforts on pictures like "Delicatessen" and "City of Lost Children (La Cité des Enfants Perdus)."

Audrey Tautou (Amélie, Dirty Pretty Things) is absolutely fantastic carrying the weight of the film. Plus, she gets a little naked in it, which never hurts. Her role as the determined and Polio affected Matilde should be remembered in this year's nominations.

The folks who play her guardians are also a hoot to watch, even in another language. Also notable among the supporting cast was Ticky Holgado as Matilde's PI Germain Pire.

Jodi Foster also makes a large cameo as the wife of a solider who served with Manech's military unit. I'm told her accent is perfect. I, myself, feel if no one has ever seen Foster in an American made picture, he would think she's French. Its amazing how much she blends in.

This picture is sure to please men and women alike. The romance of the film with striking and heart warming, while the scenes of WWI will grab the attention of most guys who like movies, period.

However, the picture does have a couple problems. First, I saw the picture with its original French oundtrack without any subtitles. I do not understand a lot of French, so I may have been left with holes in the storyline. So, I took my roommate to the picture, of which French is her mother tongue, and she confirmed a couple things about the picture I felt.

Matilde has many paths to take on her quest for the truth about Manech, some of which aren't specifically explained. In a couple scenes, she appears to have discovered a new avenue, but the viewer doesn't fully get how she found it. One could argue it's from one of MANY letters she receives after placing her ad, but its not made clear.

In addition, a couple of inner motivations for supporting characters appear ed sketchy. The biggest complaint my roommate had was the ending was pretty ambigous. She is right, but I didn't feel it brought movie down. The ending is much like the ending in "Cast Away," ambiguous but satisfying enough. Otherwise, the film is a perfect ten.

"A Very Long Engagement (Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles)" is in my book of the year's favorites along side of "The Passion of the Christ" and "Miracle." Wherever you are, if this movie is in some independent theater house, go see it. It's far beyond enjoyable.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?

This is the most incredibly long, boring, uninteresting, tedious, dull, and mind-numbing love story that I have seen in a long time. I don't know why Benn love's this movie so much. The acting is ok, and the story itself would be interesting if the director hadn't decided to ignore the path of least possible resistance and taken the most painful way to shoot scene after scene. I can't recommend this movie, even if you like love stories, it's just too long.

First, this is not a war movie in any way, shape or form. They used the war as a backdrop for the mystery, and they do show some fighting, but not enough to be considered action, just back story. Some of the scenes are great, for example, the scene where the soldier in no man's land throws a grenade up in the air just before a plane flies over and explodes causing the plane to crash, the cinematography was great. If I had not been told that there was lots of action I would not be as annoyed with the lack of action in the movie.

Perhaps my biggest complaint is the length of the story. I feel that there are too many clues for the heroine to find in the mystery. I know that sounds silly but this is a movie not real life and I don't want to see CSI: Paris. The screenwriter and director could have easily combined two of the more superfluous clues to make the movie move faster. When the movie did get moving there was either flashback scene which would explain the love story or a scene on a train where the girl gets more resolve to find her man, they are neat but they seem to come at in opportune times. The lengths of the scenes were just painful. The final scene where Mathilde gets to meet her fiancé for the first time in years and we get to watch her slowly walk out onto a balcony, slowly walk across a garden and then down a long path where he is painting. Why did it have to be so far away? It was completely unnecessary and typified the slow pace of the movie.

This movie was just too slow and it effected my enjoyment of the movie. Take 15 minutes off this movie and I would probably love it, but scene after scene it went 5 seconds too long and in the end just not enjoyable.

Brian - the Naked Gun