Blind Date (2015)

Name: Blind Date (2015)
Item: Blind Date (2015)
Rating: 3
Author: Barbara Shulgasser-Parker

Movie review by

Barbara Shulgas..., Common Sense Media

Common Sense says

age 14+

(i)

Charming French romcom has some sex, cursing.

NR
2015
90 minutes

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A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

Positive Messages

It's far more important to connect with others on a deep level than it is to judge people by how they look. When people can't see or touch each other, they take more time to listen. Great artists can't just have great technique; they need experience, soul, and warmth. Great art can move people.

Positive Role Models & Representations

"Whatsit" is a bright, creative, reclusive misanthrope who is uncomfortable around people. He hides away and works obsessively on obscure games in his cheap apartment. "Whosit" is a socially awkward pianist working her way back toward performing in public as she practices in the apartment next door. She strives to conquer her fear of being controlled by men. A game inventor turns down a lot of money to make games for young children because he thinks screen time for toddlers "lobotomizes" kids. A piano teacher is cruel and denigrating.

Violence

A man creates illusions in the apartment next door meant to frighten new occupants away.

Sex

A woman invites a man to her apartment thinking he is someone she knows. When she figures out she's with the wrong guy, she throws the puzzled man out just as they are about to kiss. A married woman picks a guy up at a bar and goes with him to have sex. Only kissing is seen. A woman plays piano more and more passionately at the urging of a man hearing her on the other side of a wall. Her hair comes down and her top button pops off as she concludes in a heavy-breathing, artistic metaphor for orgasm.

Language

"S--t," "d--k," "ball buster," "bitch," "piss," "ass," "get laid," and "crap."

Consumerism

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink alcohol.

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Blind Date is a 2015 French romantic comedy (with subtitles) that asks interesting questions about what matters in a relationship. A thin wall separates a cranky inventor from his new neighbor, a shy young pianist. They hear each other's every breath. After initial friction, they fashion a relationship solely based on voices through the wall. As looks and actual sex have been eliminated from their interplay, they develop a pure affection. In one scene, however, as she passionately plays piano and he passionately listens and comments, they appear to come to a simultaneous orgasm in their separate apartments. Language includes "s--t," "crap," "d--k," "damn it," "balls," and "ass." Adults drink wine and beer. A married woman has an affair. Kissing is seen, but no nudity.

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What's the story?

In "BLIND DATE "Whatsit" (played by the director Clovis Cornillac) is a bright, creative, reclusive misanthrope who is uncomfortable around people. He hides away and works obsessively inventing obscure games in his cheap apartment. When a sheltered young pianist takes the apartment next door, he tries to scare her off to protect his solitude by creating the illusion that the building is haunted. She doesn't fall for it. Instead, through the wall that separates their studios, they enter into a friendship and chaste love affair. He calls her "Whosit" (Melanie Bernier) and they live together without seeing each other or knowing each other's names. They eat dinner "together" through the wall, and sleep next to each other, with their beds pushed against their common barrier. They give support and encouragement without invading the other's space. Eventually jealousy upends their deep bond but the rupture ultimately brings them closer.

Is it any good?

What begins as a clever "what-if" deepens into a poem about what really matters when people fall in love. Because the protagonists begin their relationship by speaking their minds to each other through a paper-thin wall, looks, sexual attractiveness, clothes, and other symbols people use to hide behind never enter into their calculations about the other person. These two fall in love with each other's minds. What they believe and how they behave matter far more than their superficial exteriors. As a director, Cornillac handles the wall as a helpful device -- sometimes comic, sometimes dramatic -- in the furtherance of the romance. Blind Date makes its case for unconventional relationships well. One night they cook the same meal in their respective kitchens, push their tables against the wall, and invite their closest friends to have dinner together. The evening is a great success as they explain how perfectly the relationship works. Their charmed guests agree.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about relationships that are based on unusual circumstances, like the one in Blind Date. How do long-distance couples stay together?
Do you think an emphasis on the way people look can mislead with regard to how we pick our friends and mates? Why?
The pianist here plays perfectly but until she adds passion to her playing she doesn't play beautifully, according to this movie. Is it difficult to be good at something that you don't love? How does enthusiasm and passion for something help make you better?