"What's in a Name" is a story with an amazingly simple plot...yet it works exceptionally well. The writing, acting and directing are spot on...and make this a French film well worth seeking.

The film is set almost entirely in an apartment and you can easily see that this was once a play. In this apartment, a group of friends and family get together and the evening goes normally enough...to a point. However, when one of the friends makes a stupid joke, the climate in the room becomes quite chilly. Then, soon after, folks start saying things they've never said before...and the room practically becomes the next ice age! While some will undoubtedly see this as a comedy, instead I see it as a very well constructed drama...one that really sucked me into the story. Well made and unique.

This is is the same ballpark as Daniele Thompson's Le Code A Change and that's not necessarily a bad thing given that Thompson is a seriously talented writer-director. Both movies focus largely on dinner parties involving close friends and/or families, skeletons, closets, home truths - perm any two from three. This takes about a reel and a half to hit its stride after which it delivers consistently. It benefits from a fine screenplay and some great ensemble acting by people we don't see that often outside France with Patrick Bruehl and Charles Berling having the highest profiles. It's not going to win any prizes for originality but against that it does take a well-worn plot and breathe new life into it as a fairly banal practical joke triggers repercussions far outside the scope of the original intention and a close-knit group edges close to the brink of fragmentation. It would be churlish to single out any one of the high quality performances and I for one will certainly watch it again.

As you sit in front of Le Prénom, you can't help but think how many similarities it shares with Carnage (Polanski, 2011): same middle class context, almost the same setting, but with that French flavour that makes everything much tastier. Vincent is about to become father for the first time, and, during a dinner at his sister's house, he's asked about the name his wife Anna and he want to give their son. This simple, lame question sets off an evening where secrets are revealed, feelings are declared and hypocrisy is unmasked.

I think the movie, built on a very strong and witty screenplay, wouldn't have worked the same if the actors hadn't been so good, with so much remarkable chemistry between them. The cast is directed as if it were a company in a theatre: everyone has to be empathic with the others, in order to make the script work.

Better to watch it in original language, with subtitles: it's worth the risk to miss some of the dialogue.