Le code a changé (2009)

Director:

Danièle Thompson

Writers:

Christopher Thompson (writer)
Danièle Thompson (writer)

Release Date:

27 August 2010 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

So called friends at a dinner party end up acting like a dysfunctional family. |

Plot Keywords:

Dysfunctional Family | Dinner Party | Friend | Dinner | Wheelchair

Cast

Karin Viard	...	Marie-Laurence 'ML' Claverne
Dany Boon	...	Piotr
Marina Foïs	...	Mélanie Carcassonne
Patrick Bruel	...	Le docteur Alain Carcassonne
Emmanuelle Seigner	...	Sarah Mattei
Christopher Thompson	...	Lucas Mattei
Marina Hands	...	Juliette
Patrick Chesnais	...	Erwann
Blanca Li	...	Manuela
Laurent Stocker	...	Jean-Louis Mauzard
Pierre Arditi	...	Henri
Jeanne Raimbault	...	Doris
Isabelle Cagnat	...	Mme Bollet
Marc Rioufol	...	Daniel Laurent
Cyrille Eldin	...	Le démonstrateur (as Cyrille Eldiri)
Michèle Brousse	...	Mme Andrieux
Michel Motu	...	M. Andrieu
Guillaume Durand	...	Guillaume Durand
Zahia Said	...	L'infirmière
Anne Agbadou-Masson	...	L'attachée de presse (as Anne Agbdou Masson)
Paul Bonfiglio	...	Le fromager
Stéphane Lauret	...	Le vendeur Lagonda
Georges Roche	...	Le maître d'hôtel
Sonia Dufeu	...	Femme restaurant
David Lasserre	...	Professeur danse
Jérémy Bardeau	...	L'interne
Julie Villers	...	La réceptionniste
Pedro Ramirez Rey	...	Danseur flamenco
Juan Pedro Delgado	...	Danseur flamenco
Javier Cobo Nebrera	...	Danseur flamenco
José Maria Maldonado	...	Danseur flamenco
Segui	...	Danseur flamenco
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Claire Chazal	...	Elle-même - à la TV
Eric Moreau	...	(uncredited)
Jenny Rieu	...	Spectatrice #7 (uncredited)

Directed by
Danièle Thompson

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Christopher Thompson		writer
Danièle Thompson		writer

Produced by
Christine Gozlan	....	producer
David Poirot-Gozlan	....	executive producer
Alain Terzian	....	producer

Original Music by
Nicola Piovani

Cinematography by
Jean-Marc Fabre

Film Editing by
Sylvie Landra

Casting by
Constance Demontoy

Production Design by
Michèle Abbé-Vannier

Art Direction by
Benoît Bechet

Costume Design by
Catherine Leterrier

Makeup Department
Stéphane Desmarez	....	key hair stylist
Sylvie Lonchamp	....	makeup artist: extras
Karine Meyer	....	key makeup artist
Kay Philips	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Boris Azemar	....	trainee unit manager
Nathalie Chery	....	assistant unit manager
Yvon Crenn	....	production manager
Alex Grden	....	assistant production manager
Nicolas Mestrallet	....	assistant unit manager
Gatien Nida	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Denis Bergonhe	....	first assistant director
Judith de Luze	....	assistant director
Cotinier Helena	....	third assistant director
Bonnie Pirès	....	second assistant director
Arnaud Rivaille	....	assistant director

Art Department
François Barre	....	key construction grip
Pascal Chevé	....	plasterer
François Combastel	....	construction coordinator
Thierry Doerflinger	....	plasterer
Pascal Fasola	....	painter
Antoine Martial	....	key carpenter
Pascal Martin	....	property master
Liliane Vos-Conil	....	key painter
Catherine Werner-Schmidt	....	set decorator

Sound Department
Vincent Arnardi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Philippe Dongé	....	sound mix technician
Jean-Pierre Duret	....	sound
Eric Ferret	....	foley recordist
Alexandre Hecker	....	foley editor
Micki Joanni	....	synchron editor
Pierre-Jean Labrusse	....	assistant foley recordist
Frédéric Le Louet	....	supervising sound editor
Alain Lévy	....	post synchronization
Avril Noviant	....	boom operator
Florian Penot	....	assistant foley artist
Philippe Penot	....	foley artist
Julien Perez	....	sound re-recording mixer
Igor Thomas-Gerard	....	dialogue editor

Visual Effects by
Anais Bertrand	....	visual effects coordinator
Alain Carsoux	....	visual effects supervisor
Florian Chauvet	....	visual effects coordinator
Jean-Nicolas Costa	....	digital compositor
Natalène Darfeuille	....	visual effects production assistant
Bertrand de Saint Seine	....	titles and credits
Christophe Dehaene	....	digital compositor
Ludivine Ducrocq	....	production administration
Vincent Frei	....	digital compositor
David Gourmaud	....	visual effects editor
Aurélien Grand	....	retouch and restoration
Guillaume Le Gouez	....	digital compositor
Elodie Ly Tri	....	retouch and restoration
Jean-Francois Michelas	....	digital compositor
Frank Petit	....	digital compositor
Joel Pinto	....	visual effects supervisor
Elisa Pretta	....	digital compositor
Etienne Salançon	....	digital compositor
Christian Simon	....	digital compositor
Jeremy Séguin	....	digital compositor

Camera and Electrical Department
Franck-Norman Bihi	....	electrician
Grégoire de Calignon	....	second assistant camera
Frédéric Hauss	....	second assistant camera
Gilles Husson	....	grip
Nicolas Le Gal	....	director of photography: second unit
Philippe Leroy	....	electrician
Alexandre Levi	....	lighting technician
Yves Michaud	....	Steadicam operator
Luc Roux	....	still photographer
Jean-Baptiste Thibaud	....	steadicam operator
Jean-Mary Vodoz	....	best boy grip
Christian Weyers	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Jen Dabancens	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Amelie Caillart-Milhau	....	set costumer
Camille Janbon	....	assistant costume designer
Sylvie Néant	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Nafi Dicko	....	assistant editor
Soline Guyonneau	....	assembly editor
Fabien Napoli	....	colorist: dailies
Fabien Pascal	....	colorist
Edouard Perchet	....	trainee assistant editor

Music Department
Alexandre Hecker	....	music editor
Valérie Lindon	....	music supervisor
Nicola Piovani	....	conductor
Aidan Zammit	....	musician: keyboards, programming

Other crew
Aurélie David	....	assistant script
Florent Durand	....	assistant location manager
Charlotte Frances	....	production coordinator
Agathe Grau	....	script supervisor
Giuseppe Leanza	....	caterer
Elsa Maillet	....	production assistant
Dominique Segall	....	press attache
Julien Segard	....	set production assistant: trainee
Pierre Selinger	....	production attorney
Fang Sun	....	production assistant
Fabrice Touze	....	production administrator

Thanks
Roman Polanski	....	thanks
Christopher Thompson	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Thelma Films
• Alter Films
• Studio Canal (co-production)
• TF1 Films Production (co-production)
• Radis Films Productions (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (support)

Distributors

• Alfa Films (2009) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Eden Cinema (2008) (Israel) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2010) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Village Films (2009) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2010) (Greece) (DVD)
• TFM Distribution (2009) (France) (TV)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2010) (Argentina) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Duboi

Other Companies

• Le Vestiaire  costume rental
• Moteur!  publicity

Also Known As:

"Change of Plans" - Europe (English title) (festival title)
"Cena de amigos" - Argentina, Spain (imdb display title)
"Affären à la carte" - Germany (imdb display title)
"Change of Plans" - Greece
"Franske forviklinger" - Denmark

Runtime:

100 min | Germany:100 min (European Film Market)

Country:

France

Language:

French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Aubervilliers, Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Company:

Thelma Films

Trivia:

French visa # 118494 delivered on 23-1-2009.

Movie Connections:

References Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Soundtrack:

Only You (And You Alone)

'Change of Plans' is helped by sharp wit and realistic characters

In this French comedy directed by Danièle Thompson and written by Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson, the story centers around a summer dinner party where ten acquaintances come together for food, wine, and friendship, while trying to cover up their own personal troubles. Consisting of mostly middle aged couples, if they are not having affairs, they are dissatisfied with their life, or going through family issues. With an all-star ensemble cast from France, the characters each have their own story which are intertwined with one another.

I admit I'm generally turned off by "comedies" involving infidelity. There are always some dislikeable characters, the "comedy" isn't really funny, and rarely have I ever seen a good ending. The poster for Change of Plans displayed multiple characters from the chest down playing footsies under a dinner table, which reminded me of a typical episode from Three's Company. Add to that, a film that boasts an "ensemble cast" usually suffers from a lack of focus and over-simplified storytelling. To add, this is a French film, whereas a subject like this is as typical as a British outdoor breakfast scene on PBS.

Unexpectedly, though, I enjoyed this film. True, there's a typicality to the situations in this film, but it was well-executed. I appreciated the snappy dialogue, the character interactions, and the surprisingly poignant moments. Its wit is sharper than many films of this ilk. The characters react realistically. Dialogue drives this film more than the situations. Admittedly, the characters are relatively jaded and cynical, which adds to the humor. I found it interesting that the film isn't as interested in the affairs of the characters as much as it is about reconciliation. Advertisement

While the centerpiece of this film is the dinner party amongst a group of friends and colleagues, a good chunk of the film is shown in flashbacks, revealing back stories of many of the characters, as well as the relationships that develop after the party. We are told these middle-aged characters have children, but we never see them—perhaps it helps the film keep its focus. We are introduced to ML (Karin Viard), a divorce lawyer, who hosts the dinner party. The guests consist of her teacher Manuela (Blanca Li) from her flamenco class, her husband Piotr (Dany Boon), and her younger sister Juliette (Marina Hands), a costume designer who is dating a much older man Erwann (Patrick Chesnais). There's also the kitchen designer Jean-Louis (Laurent Stocker) who designed ML's new kitchen, oncologist Alain (Patrick Bruel) and his gynecologist wife, Melanie (Marina Fois), who secretly wants to end their marriage and run off with her lover. Attorney Lucas (Christopher Thompson) arrives to the party with his wife Sarah (Emmanuelle Seigner), who is Piotr's old college flame. An unexpected guest is ML's father, Henri (Pierre Arditi), who has had a strained relationship with Juliette ever since he had run off from the family.

Thompson manages to keep the stories working together logically. When characters change, it's realistic. The film moves at a leisure pace, but is always interesting thanks to the film's characters, dialogue, and occasional poignant surprises. Admittedly, those who already have problems with talky French films with subtitles will not have their minds changed here. I enjoyed the zigzag table conversations and different topics that go off tangent. I liked how the film didn't try to be too comedic. There are some great emotional scenes, such as the ones between Henri and Juliette. The actors and actresses all bring fine performances. It's true that these are not stories I normally gravitate towards, but the film's little surprises, wit, and characters made the experience more than palatable.

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