Welcome Aboard (2012) User Reviews

Welcome to the Rileys (2010) vibes

[rdy-ever · 7/10 · 7 January 2023]

This is a feel-good movie, giving almost the same vibes as the 2010 similarly titled Welcome to the Rileys picture. The plot is also pretty similar: depressed aging man meets runaway teen and decides to help her while she helps him finding a new purpose in life. Although the two share roughly the same plot, the action unfolds differently, and I can't really decide which one I liked better. If in Welcome to the Rileys, the depression of the main character has a solid reason (the death of their daughter), this time the protagonist seems to be depressed for no specific reason, other then aging, becoming less relevant, and, ultimately, a "painter's block". He has a loving wife, a family, fame, and a good amount of money. However, he decides to run away from it all, while also contemplating suicide. On his way, he meets a troubled young girl, that was banished by her mother and stepfather. She's not really a runaway, but she has no way to go so she jumps into the depressed man's car on heavy rain. What comes next is pretty predictable, yet not boring.

I enjoyed watching this movie, and it's a solid 7/10 from me.

A simple and delightful little film.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 13 June 2012]

I am not very used to this kind of features, but from time to time I think it's refreshing ; that's the word this movie deserves. After a very depressing beginning, you slowly but surely feel better as the story continues.

This tale of a depressed and nearly suicidal mooded man in his mid sixties, who escapes from his "too much normal life" and then meets a runaway teenage girl is very poignant and also unusual. Although we have already seen that before, but not too often. No one can stay "cold" watching such a so simple and heartbreaking story. Jean Becker gave us some films like this one. I would say it's just his trade mark.

Don't miss it.

Butterflies Are Free - Well, Would You Believe Reasonable

[writers_reign · 8/10 · 9 November 2012]

The first thing to say about this fine movie is that there is absolutely nothing new in the content; as soon as Patrick Chesnais agrees to give a lift to Jeanne Lambert - after approximately ten to fifteen minutes - we know it's only a matter of time before the two wounded birds - one in his sixties, one around fifteen - help each other to fly again. There's a slight resemblance to Philippe Muyl's Le Papillon except there the girl was pre-pubescent but both films are excellent. On the other hand Jean Becker doesn't do mediocre and time and time again - Les Enfants du marais, effroyable jardins - he manages to satisfy our feel-good appetites as he does once again. It's good to see Miou-Miou on this side of the channel once again - though she remains active in France her recent output has been confined to 'domestic' films - albeit the lion's share of screen time is shared between the two leads. I doubt if it will draw flies at the Multiplex but that says more about them than this delightful charmer.