Mange Ta Soupe

In this comedic slice-of-life, a young man who has been away for a long time comes back home to visit his mother, an egocentric literary critic consumed by the world of books. His sister is pretty much wrapped up in herself, his father is a journalist and somewhat of a dreamer, in short, no one in his family is prepared to help him confront the major trauma of his childhood: the suicide of his brother. As the story unfolds, the young man faces these personalities in a series of humorous interludes (i.e., "shut up and eat your soup," as the title suggests in French, seems to summarize the family's attitude to his queries). Director Mathieu Amalric has a good sense of natural, human interactions that carry this film beyond the limitations of its low budget and limited, four-week shooting schedule. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide