French cinema just keeps getting better, and that's partially down to two of the finest actors working today. Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. Put these two individuals into the same dramatic story and you should have yourself a masterpiece. However, this exercise proves you need more than just great acting to create a compelling story. A killer whale trainer succumbs to an accident that results in both legs being amputated. She encountered a club bouncer who she then relies on for assistance, rapidly developing affection towards him. A woman, contemplating the fate of her future happiness and life, relying on the pure physicality of someone who crossed paths with her by chance. The relationship between these two complex characters exude strength and humility, bringing out the very best and worst that life has to offer. Conveying a simple yet powerful message of not giving up. Through persistence and good intentions, the irredeemable can be redeemed. It's just a shame that the character of Ali had no redeemable features until the final five minutes, making it extremely difficult to become emotionally connected. His aggressive violence inflicted damage upon himself and those closest to him, including throwing his son into the corner of a table. We're supposed to sympathise with him, but it's Stephanie who obtains all of my empathy, who is undoubtedly a more relatable character. Cotillard and Schoenaerts were phenomenal as predicted, equally balancing nuanced emotions with raw physicality. It's a slow character driven drama, where the pacing is intricately developed and perfectly built. However, the concluding act did seem rushed for the sake of conveying redemption, unable to capture the emotive response the screenplay was after. Could've done with some more killer whale scenes (minus Katy Perry's 'Firework') to create that much needed splash of wonder and awe. Fortunately, the rest of the film was excellent and certainly will not rust for years to come.

This is my very first review of a Non-English movie ever. I watched the movie like a year ago and I gave it a 7.5 but after viewing it again I gave it an 8 which looks more appropriate to this amazing movie.I just watched this movie cause I like Marion Cotillard the movie centers around a guy (Matthias Schoenaerts) who is a boxer and also in charge of his son living with his sister meets and develops bond with Stephanie (Marion) after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident. Alain according to me is a careless man and particularly lives life on his own term of a guy on the other hand Stephanie is the completely opposite of him. I totally love this movie the main thing that I like the most is the chemistry of these two its truly amazing. The scene I like the most is when Alain decides to go fight again and Shephanie was shocked. The direction was great and also the CGI which was remarkably marvelous.I would recommend this to everyone.

This movie is pathetic. There is not any discernible part. When i look at the other reviews about the movie, it is commonly mentioned that the movie is about disabled people. Before than that there is another very important and hurtful situation in the movie. Wild animals should not be captured and locked in the aquaparks. If the story is very dramatic, the only reason is the whales that are trapped in the aquapark. That's horrible. Making profit from that is even worse... Instead of being against the captured animals, the director of the movie shows the whales in way that they like to stay trapped in bath tub. They are shown as if they can be used a part of rehabilitation of people they have had an accident causing permanent disability.

Jacques Audiard was brought to the attention of many Americans in 2008 with A Prophet, the winner of that years Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This time around Marion Cotillard (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) and Matthias Schoenaerts (Bullhead) team up for his newest film just released in limited theaters, Rust and Bone. The film stars a single father named Ali who meets Stephanie, an orca trainer at France's version of SeaWorld, and they strike up a friendship based off a need for each other. Both characters are certainly flawed (who isn't?) but for some reason even from the start they seem to work for each other. In the now three films I have seen from Audiard I have never been too blow away, but in this film the lead acting performances and the unbroken nature of this French film untouched by the regular tropes of Hollywood, makes a nice match worthy of anyone's viewing.Due to her job as a whale trainer and performer, Cotillard's Stephanie in a very comfortable position in her life. In a sort of dance to Katy Perry's "Fireworks" she moves herself in a synchronized fashion but the movements of her arms just seem to ooze out of her like she was born to move that way. But then, not even fully explained to the audience, there is an accident where her platform breaks during a show, and both her legs have to be amputated. From this point on Ali and Stephanie must learn to trust each other, because they each have something to offer each other. Ali takes a job as a street fighter to earn extra wages, and Stephanie has to fight the depression of losing her ability to walk. Both actors pull off these aspects of their roles tremendously. Cotillard has been a stellar actress since her breakthrough Oscar wining role of Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose" but this role may be her finest. During the course of the movie her character has to deal with a few life changing moments and she handles them all fantastically. Even though she is now becoming a huge star in America and thus the world, Cotillard is not afraid to take her body and her mind to deep places during her performances. The poster of the film is a good example of that, Ali is so strong and fit he is without effort able to carry her to the water on his back while she is only wearing panties. The times like that scene were Ali and Stephanie share the screen are the finest moments of the film even though it is never clear if there is a particular reason why these two people are so drawn together.Audiard is also credited for co-writing the screenplay for this film and I wondered at times if that is a good thing or not. Even though the film does not labor, it really did not put to use the full 120 minutes of its time to enhance the story. There are moments with Ali's character in particular that seem a little obvious. From very early on it is clear that he is probably not the best father in the world, and since he is a street fighter in a movie of course he can get angry and violent at the drop of a hat. The film juxtaposes Ali and Stephanie in these ways seemingly coming to the conclusion that opposites attract, but I never cared about the two together in a romantic sense. They are both attractive people so a connection in that way is not unthinkable but the flaws of the film occur when you are supposed to feel something for them together that I never did. There is also one subplot with Ali's character that was unnecessary and should have never made it to the final draft of the screenplay. Still on the strength of the two performances and how well the journey we take with Stephanie is done, I would easily recommend Rust and Bone to anyone interested in movies even if it is just for a solid one time viewing.