Educational Media Reviews Online

In the opening scene of Nobody Else But You, the viewer is immediately introduced to the harsh winters of the French region of Franche-Comté and the commune of Mouthe, located near France’s Swiss border. The unbearably cold weather is almost presented as another significant character throughout the film and is deftly woven into the unfolding narrative. A focus on local weather, local politics, and local personalities, all add up to create an enjoyable film experience.

This film noir has a definite comedic side, but the focus is a mystery/suspense about the death of a model for a local cheese company. Sophie Quinton plays Martine Langevin who becomes known as a homegrown celebrity “Candice Lecoeur” who appears in salacious cheese advertisements and weather reports on local television. Rousseau (Jean-Paul Rouve) is a Parisian crime novelist suffering from writer’s block who is trying to find a new story for his next book while on an excursion to Mouthe to settle his uncle’s estate. He happens upon the story of Candice’s recent death and is not convinced by the reports that she committed suicide. Believing that something more is at stake, Rousseau enlists the help of police officer Bruno Leloup (Guillaume Goiux) and the two try to reconstruct events leading up to Candice’s death. Rousseau finds and reads Candice’s journals, and the deceased Candice compellingly appears to narrate her journal entries. Through the journals and some detective work, Rousseau discovers that Candice believed that she was the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe and that her life contains many uncanny parallels to the famous American film actress.

While director Gérald Hustache-Mathieu's Nobody Else But You has been compared to the Coen brothers’ Fargo, and does share similar aspects to Fargo, such as the winter weather, the eccentricities of a local setting, and a suspenseful narrative, the film does not evoke the same emotional response as Fargo and ultimately has a different overall objective. Nobody Else But You’s narrative is absorbing, delivers some interesting plot twists, and offers a French perspective on 1950s American film culture. The film is both a critique and a celebration of Hollywood and American culture, with references to the life of Marilyn Monroe, Sunset Boulevard (the street and the 1950 film), 1950s-era music, and President John F. Kennedy. In addition, the film delves into the idea of fan culture and how the objectification of a person, particularly of a celebrity, can spiral out of control. While the film has a clear storyline, some parts of the plot and character details need more development. The ending ties together various plot twists nicely and embraces some sentimentality in the final scene, but also feels a little unbelievable. Nobody Else But You leaves the viewer feeling that the experience was worth it, but that some fine points were lacking.

This film is appropriate for library collections related to French studies, suspense/crime dramas, and interpretations of American film culture. In addition, educators will find the film a good example of recent French cinema with an interesting, even if fictional, portrayal of regional life in Mouthe, a location that is not well-known to American audiences. Nobody Else But You is in French with English subtitles.