The Apprentices (1995)

“Antoine” (François Cluzet) and his younger pal “Fred” (Guillaume Depardieu - anyone else think he’s the double of Julian Sands?) live together in a glorified squat struggling to put a lettuce, or a tomato, on the table. The former fancies himself as a bit of a playwright but is amidst a fairly long barren spell; the latter - well he’s a bit of a charming wastrel who is content to lie in bed all day as they both dream of their girlfriends, real or imaginary. Finally, they run out of what cash they did have and with eviction looming large they decide to rob the offices where “Antoine” works. That just proves to be a typically cack-handed affair for the pair, but also one that sees them rumbled by his bosses and facing a rather unique form of retribution - it’s a martial arts magazine! Needless to say, this causes a bit of difficulty between these two men as depression soon hits “Antoine” in quite a potent fashion. Luckily, the boys have “Lorette” (Marie Trintignant) on hand to help steer them through this emotional maelstrom just as “Fred” succeeds in getting himself involved in a ménage-a-trois! Sure, it’s all a little contrived and the scenarios do seem to go from frying pan to fire with predictable regularity, but there’s a convincing and enjoyable dynamic between the two men here that the witty, quite near the bone, script does much to augment. In it’s way it is quite an affecting love story depicting an inter-reliance based on a genuine fondness between two people whom you might reasonably think would do better apart. It hits the ground running and provides us with quite an entertaining observation of their lives that’s well worth an hour and an half.