Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
On holiday in the south of France, chic Parisian sophisticate Violette meets life-loving IT geek Jean-René. Against all odds, there’s a real chemistry between them and at the end of the summer, Jean-René wastes no time in joining his beloved in Paris. But there’s trouble in paradise, and a third party swiftly appears to shatter the couple’s idyll: Lolo, Violette’s ultra-possessive 19-year-old son, who is determined to get rid of his mother’s lover, whatever it takes…
Lolo is a middling French romantic comedy with a familiar premise—overbearing adult child sabotages mother's new relationship—that never finds a truly fresh angle. The performances are competent, with Julie Delpy charming as Violette and Dany Boon likable as the hapless Jean-René, but the material doesn't challenge them. Visually it's functional rather than distinctive, shot in a standard rom-com register with Paris as attractive backdrop but no particular cinematic ambition. The premise has some satirical potential (skewering Parisian elitism and mommy's-boy culture) but the film plays it too safely for pointed comedy. The resolution is predictable and somewhat unsatisfying, wrapping up without the bite the setup promised.