Fifth about The Seventh

Nothing to Hide (Le Jeu)

Nothing to Hide: Fred Cavayé’s dinner-party dramedy is set up by this constant but artificial device (it always feels false that every social rule can be broken, except one: standing up and leaving as the conflicts become too heavy); the release of long-buried emotions can often lead to interesting conversations, but for the most part, the dialogue in this film veers towards the embarrassing and prejudiced discourse. The particulars of how this unfurls is a fruit of our times, but the dialogue is not anything new. Most of the vignettes are groan-inducing, but there is one that turns out to be rather touching, at least. The cast tries their best: Bérénice Bejo is charming and manages well the emotional shifts; Stéphane De Groodt is fine as the stable center of the group; Roschdy Zem has a tricky character in his hands, and handles it well, even if he gets too close to mugging at times. The apartment where all the action takes place is a charming one, well-captured by cinematographer Denis Rouden, who avoids the worst of a single-location claustrophobia.

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