Time Out (2001 film)

Time Out
Time Out
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Laurent Cantet
Written by	Robin Campillo; Laurent Cantet
Produced by	Caroline Benjo
Starring	Aurélien Recoing; Karin Viard
Cinematography	Pierre Milon
Edited by	Robin Campillo; Stephanie Leger
Music by	Jocelyn Pook
Distributed by	Haut et Court
Release dates	4 September 2001 (Venice); 14 November 2001 (France);
Running time	134 minutes
Country	France
Language	French
Budget	$3 million
Box office	$1.2 million

Time Out (French: L'Emploi du temps or 'Le Vendu') is a 2001 French drama film directed by Laurent Cantet and starring Aurélien Recoing and Karin Viard.^[3] The film is loosely based on the life story of Jean-Claude Romand (though without the criminal element), and it focuses on one of Cantet's favorite subjects: a man's relationship with his job.

The film received considerable attention internationally and was shown at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. It was one of the independent films to be featured at the New York Film Festival.

Plot

The film tells the story of Vincent, a middle-aged man fired after spending more than 11 years working for a prestigious consulting firm. Unable to admit to his family that he has been fired, the unemployed former executive continues to pretend he goes to the office daily. In reality, Vincent spends his time aimlessly driving the highways of France and Switzerland, reading newspapers, or sleeping in his car.

As time progresses, Vincent invents more and more elaborate lies, throwing himself into a vicious spiral of deceit. To sustain his bourgeois lifestyle, Vincent sets up a Ponzi scheme and is eventually enlisted into smuggling by career thief Jean-Michel. Murielle, Vincent's wife, after discovering her husband's "life of lies" attempts to bring him back into the realm of reality.

Cast

Aurélien Recoing as Vincent
Karin Viard as Muriel
Serge Livrozet as Jean-Michel
Jean-Pierre Mangeot as Father
Monique Mangeot as Mother
Didier Perez as Philippe
Philippe Jouannet as Human Resources Director

Reception

Time Out received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 96%, based on 82 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The consensus reads, "A haunting psychological drama, Time Out takes a penetrating look at the angst of the modern worker."^[4] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 88, based on 30 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[5]

The film was placed at 99 on Slant Magazines best films of the 2000s,^[6] number 9 of The Guardian's best films of the noughties,^[7] and number 11 at The A.V. Club's top 50 films of the 2000s.^[8]

Accolades

Award / Film Festival	Category	Recipients and nominees	Result
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		2nd place
European Film Awards	Best Screenwriter	Laurent Cantet and Robin Campillo	Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards	Best International Film		Nominated
National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		3rd place
National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	Aurélien Recoing	3rd place
New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Runner-up
Venice International Film Festival	Don Quixote Award		Won
Vienna International Film Festival	FIPRESCI Prize		Won

References

^ "L'Emploi du temps (Time Out) (2001)". JPBox-Office. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
^ "Time Out (2002) - Box Office Mojo". Archived from the original on 27 October 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
^ Holden, Stephen (3 October 2001). "Movie Review - - FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW; A Great New Job in, uh, Fabrication - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
^ "Time Out (L' Emploi du temps) (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
^ "Time Out". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
^ "Best of the Aughts: Film". Slant Magazine. 7 February 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
^ "100 Best Films of the Noughties". The Guardian. London. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
^ "The best films of the '00s". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 8 October 2011.

External links

[1] "L'Emploi du temps (Time Out) (2001)". JPBox-Office. Retrieved 22 December 2021.

[2] "Time Out (2002) - Box Office Mojo". Archived from the original on 27 October 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2020.

[3] Holden, Stephen (3 October 2001). "Movie Review - - FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW; A Great New Job in, uh, Fabrication - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 July 2016.

[4] "Time Out (L' Emploi du temps) (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

[5] "Time Out". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 March 2016.

[6] "Best of the Aughts: Film". Slant Magazine. 7 February 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2010.

[7] "100 Best Films of the Noughties". The Guardian. London. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2010.

[8] "The best films of the '00s". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 8 October 2011.

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v t e Robin Campillo
Films written and directed	They Came Back (2004) Eastern Boys (2013) BPM (Beats per Minute) (2017) Red Island (2023)
Films written only	Time Out (2001) Heading South (2005) The Class (2008) Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang (2012) Planetarium (2016) The Workshop (2017)