The Mystery of Henri Pick (2019) User Reviews

Who is Henri Pick ?

[FrenchEddieFelson · 7/10 · 8 March 2019]

I loved this improbable encounter between: 1) Fabrice Luchini as a literary critic at first pedantic and unpleasant, then sensitive, facetious and pertinent after receiving 2 strong slaps (figuratively but legitimately and almost concomitantly), 2) Marie-Christine Orry as a librarian deep in Brittany, with her unforgettable voice, 3) Bastien Bouillon as a young writer lacking in gratitude and then self-confidence, 4) Camille Cottin as a spontaneous but moderately cheerful Breton woman, 5) ... (not-exhaustive list).

What an intelligent entertainment, without forgetting of course the sumptuous landscapes of Brittany!

a nice little...

[ops-52535 · 7/10 · 4 February 2021]

Mysterious journey into the life of a mysterious person that supposedly has written a sensational mysterious novel that has been found in a library mysterious department of shredded novels that no publishers wants to achieve and develope. a little grey litterature critique man looses his grip on life to find out who the author henri pick was.

its a well made, quite witty french kinda occupational ''crimethriller'' on the psevdonymious nature of many writers, but also the way publishers may fool the common man and woman, to read or not to read...thats the question. its well acted, and the script very well made except the main clue, how did he find the true nature of the fake, the syntax of the writer couldve been better elaborated or revealed, actually it was a special and exciting way to make a nisje, dull story become interesting , even for me the illiterate grumpy old man. so fill your grale with the wine of poetry and do have a look at this one.a recommend.

The ending is the worst part

[sven-koehler · 6/10 · 26 December 2019]

The cinema surprised me with this movie. It had a pretty slow start - but eventually I got captured by the question: who wrote this book, if it wasn't Henri Pick?

Well, and in the moment I was most excited, they just dropped the solution. The investigator had clearly avoided reading the book of his main suspect's boyfriend. Finally, he's sent another copy and then the movie basically jumps to the real author telling us every aspect of the story. Maybe there is some pressure on the real author to reveal himself, but I didn't feel it. In that regard, the movie failed.

Me and the people I was with were very disappointed. I have never seen a resolution like this, I think. I love Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes. But this left us very disappointed.

The acting is very good, but the story is disappointing. Hence my 6 stars rating.

To ruin a film by its ending

[mortalalexh · 6/10 · 8 December 2020]

As a lover of literature and French style, I was naturally ecstatic to catch a screening of this in a post-lockdown setting. The film kept my intrique through its whole runtime. The mystery, detective drama of it all was done beautifully, and seeped in melancholy, to which I presumed would keep itself during the end reveal.

After I walked out of the empty theatre, I felt disappointed because of the opportunity that was missed. The final reveal of who Henri Pick really was... was just some guy, who had, up to that point, a total of 20 minutes of screentime at best. An even bigger blow was that he revealed that he went to a tombstone and stole the name of a real man named Henri Pick, and meticulously set up a scheme for his girlfriend to find: a randomly placed red manuscript in the library of rejected manuscripts. Presumably, his cause was to achieve fame after getting snubbed for success from his last novel. What a prick.

Eesh. The let-down slumped me in my seat. What they could've done was this perhaps: have the whole investigation lead up to the melancholic and affirming reveal that Henri Pick, and everything about his book, was in fact real. This would be such an emotional posterity for the detective/critic, as during the closing, say half an hour, the investigation starts to gradually reveal itself into hints of truth and the detective begins to lose track and hope. During the closing minutes the audience could already sense what could be revealed, and the detective could affirm this with a statement of "It was real", etc, and induces a somber and reflective moment, as the film ends.

But, alas, here's what we got. 6/10

Missing link

[benny-rigaux-bricmont · 6/10 · 15 March 2019]

Not obvious the real writer of the book knows russian as he was supposed to at some point in the movie.

It's a mystery (or is it?)

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 1 August 2022]

For some reason I was reminded of a song when I thought of the summary headline. If you are into R&B and Soul you may know which one I mean - but that aside, I'm bad with titles sometimes and with background checks on stories. I would assume this is a fictional story ... on the other hand - maybe it isn't? But that doesn't matter that much to me when it comes to my rating and enjoyment.

We have a book and the mystery surrounding it. So why not dive in it you ask? Well there are people involved in every book, especially family members - and then there are others who try to make some money out of things. Whether they exist or have just a place in the cemetary (no pun intended).

Suspend your disbelief and let yourself emmerge into the story - if you can do that, you will have quite some fun and suspense along the road.

an intellectual mystery and a guilty pleasure in one

[mjfhhh · 10/10 · 25 March 2020]

There's a library in a French provincial town that holds the manuscripts refused by the publishers. Among those lies a book of gold - a novel that resonates with the public and becomes a bestseller. The author is Henri Pick - a man who hadn't been seen writing or reading a novel in his life time. When famous literary critic (Fabrice Luchini) claims Henri Pick had not actually written the book the public is enraged. As a result he loses his tv job and his marriage. It is now an obsession for him to prove he was right and he embarks on a hilarious journey to find the truth.

Fabrice Luchini is fantastic in the main role of literary critic gone astray, the role feels written specifically for him. If the film was made in the 80's the role could be played by Pierre Richard. Just like Richard, Luchini has a perfect balance of hilarious and dramatic and the film draws on this talent in every frame he is in.

Part intellectual mystery, part comedy, part love story, part a serious dwelling on what it means to be an artist THE MYSTERY OF HENRI PICK is almost a perfect movie. In a country where 90% of people read extensively and 70% attempt to write the next great French novel the film exist in a parallel universe from most overseas viewers. Who cares about a book unless it's Game Of Thrones or Harry Potter? But this suspension of disbelief is easy to overcome with engaging characters and quirky dialog.

The script is focused, inventive and delivers a perfect ending. It definitely tricked me. Supported by a cheeky and slightly frantic score from a young (but also a veteran in his own way) French musician Laurent Perez Del Mar, THE MYSTERY OF HENRY PICK is the best French Cinema has to offer. As much tongue in the cheek as it is serious, this is an intellectual mystery and a guilty pleasure in one!

Great movie

[etoncev · 10/10 · 13 July 2020]

I really loved this movie from the beginning to the end. Easy going, with fine specific French humor, smells like good old times, it kept my attention all the way. Great acting too. Realy refreshing!

5/10 for a half-good, half-bad movie

[stellasweet2 · 5/10 · 4 April 2021]

"Let's see a movie" we said one night. An intriguing plot ("a masterpiece that no one knows its author") led us to this movie. I generally enjoy french films and the length of it (1h36m) was certainly a plus. The film starts out very nice: an unknown writer, who has just published his first unsuccessful book, hears the very interesting story of a library specifically for unsuccessful and unpublished books. His girlfriend, a publisher, visits it and discovers a book that she adores and believes must be published. She does, making famous a random man, former owner of a pizza place and dead for the past three years, and subsequently his family (daughter and wife). A book critic, intrigued by the background of this said "genius", suspects something fishy and decides to uncover the truth. So far so good. This is the first 30 minutes of the movie and the good part for me. The next part is the journey towards the discovery: an utterly boring journey, with the building of a forced love story, between two characters with absolutely no chemistry, because why not. We discover multiple, shallow characters who try to be funny, mysterious and/or angry with the motive of the critic and his research. At one point, before the big break, the co-star actually suggest to stop there and oh, how I wish they would. Because what comes next ruins the whole movie: what's the logic behind publishing a book under a random, unknown person's name, when you yourself are unknown in the first place? I got the "I-did-it-to-win-you-over" game (the "framing" as she puts it), but the rest no, I don't see the good in it.

One thing I truly loved: the book critic, as he was in the beginning: cynical and always speaking his mind, without fear. His lines were the only funny parts in the movie. Of course he becomes a bit lovey-dovey and soppy towards the end, but I forgive him for being the only interesting character in this promising but after all disappointing film.

An amazing movie

[kittypryde_shadowcat · 10/10 · 26 November 2019]

I absolutely loved this movie, from the beginning till the end. It's about a book written by Mr. Pick. A tv critic doubts the authenticity of this book, so he will investigate everything about Mr. Pick's life.

Picking the mystery's lock

[heraclitus-59136 · 9/10 · 1 November 2020]

The film is an essay into existentialism on people deciding what reality is. The eponymous character is someone who simply lived life. Fabrice Lucchini is brilliant as the thorny antagonist who cannot believe what other people want to believe. In the quest to speak the truth the edifice of his life crumbles away and he apparently wants to do the same with others. This surface of the film works hand in glove with the nature of mysteries. Why can some people see a mystery and others cannot? Why do other people give a blank no or just not care? The solution of the mystery can be anti-climactic due to the what now factor. The film's gentle nudge at the end that existence goes on reflects upon us all as Henri Pick.

Lackluster

[iwalrus · 5/10 · 16 July 2021]

The storyline idea is original but the film rambles on too long to keep the attention of the viewer.

Certain outcomes are obvious but the ending is unexpected albeit a bit long winded.

Agatha Christie need not worry.

Yet another french masterpiece

[martinpersson97 · 9/10 · 8 January 2023]

France is one of the best filmmaking countries, and without a doubt a very good representation of European films.

This one fits the bill perfectly. The acting is phenomenal and so is the writing, a bit of humour is added to the mix as per usual, yet the brilliant director utilizes a sense of mystery and humanity that blenda it all very well.

It is a very well cinematographied and edited film, and the cutting is excellent. It is truly a great and suspenseful film that should definitely be experienced by any lover of film and french cinema. Definitely recommended, and the director is very promising.