If all the main characters in Le Grand Role were not wonderfully akin to our very own beliefs and faiths, the movie, about a struggling actor husband, a beautiful, young dying wife and The Grand Role he plays for her as she fades away, would still survive and be a heartfelt diversion (clocking in at a brisk 86 minutes). Because this cool, handsome, talented, sincere, and wild crew of French thirty-somethings are our people, and represent themselves proudly as such, a Jewish audience cannot help but get involved.
The film, written by Daniel Cohen based on a book by Daniel Goldenberg, comes out of France at a time where any news that involves a Jew is tragic or petrifying, whether it be firebombs at synagogues or an assault on a boy who dared to wear a yarmulke