An ambitious though flawed comedy drama, Love Me If You Dare traces the misadventures of childhood friends, Julien (Thibault Verhaeghe) and Sophie (Josephine Lebas-Joly). At the start of the film, the eight year-olds become fast friends after standing up for each other in school. From here their relationship blossoms, with the pair recognising the other's trickster nature and daring each other to ever more outrageous feats in an effort to stave off the mundanity of ordinary lives. As they grow into adults (now effectively played by Guilliaume Canet and Marion Cotillard), the game continues, occasionally stretching into darker, more serious territory as both Julien and Sophie struggle to contain their feelings for each other.
Taking the unpredictability of love theme a little too literally, Samuel routinely peppers with fantastic if slightly unnecessary, imagery which appear to serve no other function than to highlight his talents as a visual stylist. The film moves with some energy in the opening thirty minutes, but the director's reliance on his box of tricks undermines the quiet grace of the story. The two central performances are well judged - Guilliaume Canet and Marion Cotillard give fine accounts of themselves - but Samuel's power play direction should have been replaced by something with a little more poise and subtlety.
