selffamily When you get a good movie, that is a good story, with good actors and the whole thing knits together with no real nasties, then you finish the film in some frustration because it needed to go on another hour or so, so that you can wallow in the good feeling it gives out. Real people is the theme, real situations and no horrid surprises out of the blue. I enjoy this genre of French films, I wish other countries could grasp the idea of escapism that is quite realistic - so that life could be like this. Some familiar faces from other movies, as ever the beautiful French countryside stars too. I'm off to buy the dvd.

dbdumonteil This is old school French cinema,which displays an humanism recalling Christian-Jaque or even the sometimes unfairly demeaned Jean-Paul Le Chanois.And Except for the rather unlikely abrupt happy end ,it works from start to finish: it is definitely the kind of the movie we are in need of today : it's not overtly optimistic -like the feel-good movies which mar the contemporary French scene : however Marianne Denicourt's warm smile can lighten the darkest night;François Cluzet's commitment to his work is extraordinary : the first sequences ,consisting of very short scenes ,show it all .But ,in an admirable sequence ,exhausted and disheartened ,Werner tells his colleague (us )how hard his prestigious occupation always involves sufferings,death: nature( some people call God) may be a wonderful thing ,but it(He ) makes mistakes or even monstrosities and our task is to correct them.And correct ,mend ,both of them do: the old man dies in his home ,and he could not ask for more;the boy who passes for a half-wit may be an autistic with an exceptional memory -he is a scholar,as far as WW1 is concerned-: someday ,he may learn to read and to write .So it's not overtly pessimistic either.It's life and life only.There's a wonderful truce in their ceaseless fight ,when the people dance to Cohen's "Hallelujah",a moment when an infinite tenderness emanates from the fete .It does not always avoid clichés:the first Cluzet/Denicourt confrontation follows the usual pattern: seasoned veteran/modern rookie,it's the same old song ,be they militaries, cops,teachers,or physicians : see the scene of the ganders ("put their beak into their a........");and Cluzet's family is cliché itself.And Nina Simone's superb "wild is the wind" does not fit the bill in that context as well as Cohen's song as a finale .But after 15 minutes ,the movie hits its stride ,and the words often rings true;except for an old TV series ("Cecilia Medecin De Campagne", sixties),a whole movie was never devoted to the country docs' thankless work in France,and it's much to Thomas Lilti's credit to have broached the subject ,with a valid documentary side which is never dull,thanks to the two principals .Both will win you over.It's life and life only;as the good old French cinema I like was.

writers_reign Yet another outstanding example of the kind of film that only France seems interested in making, a rural setting, strong characters who are above all 'real' and not a lot happening. The main plot point - a younger doctor detailed to 'help' an older one in the country - is reminiscent of Paramount's Welcome, Stranger, circa 1947, where Bing Crosby is 'sent' to give Barry Fitzgerald a helping hand but this was a cynical cashing in on Going My Way where young priest Crosby is sent to help older priest Fitzgerald. Going My Way cleaned up at the box office so it was remade with doctors instead of priests and that's where the similarity to Irreplaceable ends. It could also be argued that it has something in common with The Grocer's Son and indeed more of a case could be made in that case as both films explore life in small, rural communities. Irreplaceable benefits from two leading performances that are way beyond outstanding but Francois Cluzet and Marianne Denicourt also lead a superb supporting cast and a truly beautiful film.

GUENOT PHILIPPE Compelling story about a couple of countryside physicians, especially the male one played by the always convincing François Cluzet. A devoted doctor, a man deeply involved with people living in small villages, lost farms, far from the madding crowd. A man who is also aware to have cancer, and who tries anyway to fight like a dog to, against all odds, help the others. I liked the supporting characters who, I am sure, were not played by professional actors, but whose performances are however outstanding. A movie about true life, true people, those whose we too rarely talk about. The people from the deep France, far from the crowded suburbs. Very compelling feature directed by an authentic doctor in real life.