''God Is Great and I'm Not'' (french: Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite; ''God Is Great, I'm Not'') is a 2001 French

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film directed by

Pascale Bailly ''God Is Great and I'm Not'' (french: Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite; ''God Is Great, I'm Not'') is a 2001 French romantic comedy film directed by Pascale Bailly starring Audrey Tautou and Edouard Baer. It was released in 2001, following ...

starring

Audrey Tautou Audrey Justine Tautou (; born 9 August 1976) is a French actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 18 on television and her feature film debut in ''Venus Beauty Institute'' (1999), for which she received critical acclaim and won the Césa ...

and Edouard Baer. It was released in 2001, following Tautou's international success in '' Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain''.

Cast

as Michèle * Edouard Baer as François *

Julie Depardieu Julie Marion Depardieu (born 18 June 1973) is a French actress who has appeared in a number of successful films. Early life Born 18 June 1973 in Paris, she is the daughter of Gérard Depardieu, Gérard and Élisabeth Depardieu and the sister of t ...

as Valérie * Catherine Jacob as Evelyne *

Philippe Laudenbach Philippe Laudenbach (born 31 January 1936) is a French actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films since 1963. Career Nephew of Pierre Fresnay (born Peter Laudenbach), Philippe is formed to the French National Academy of Dramatic Arts. H ...

as Jean *

Cathy Verney ''Cathy'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip, drawn by Cathy Guisewite from 1976 until 2010. The comic follows Cathy, a woman who struggles through the "four basic guilt groups" of life—food, love, family, and work. The strip gently pokes f ...

as Florence * Anna Koch as Régine'' * Thierry Neuvic as The first patient

Plot

Michèle's writes her first

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: * Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

entry, "I am 20 years old, and I have ruined my life!" This is just one of the many journal entry titles that are flashed before every particular scene in the film. Michèle had just recently broken up with her

boyfriend A boyfriend is a male friend or acquaintance, often specifying a regular male companion with whom a person is romantically or sexually involved. A boyfriend can also be called an admirer, beau, suitor and sweetheart. The analogous female ...

so she meets up with some of her friends at a

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

. It is there that she meets the charming

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

François. Though Michèle has a promising modeling career, she feels that something, or someone, is missing in her life. François quickly fills this void, and Michèle feels partially whole. She first claims that she is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

but is dissatisfied with the results of praying and worshipping. By recommendation, she begins to follow

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

through meditation and use of elaborate

costume jewelry Costume or fashion jewelry includes a range of decorative items worn for personal adornment that are manufactured as less expensive ornamentation to complement a particular fashionable outfit or garmentBaker, Lillian. Fifty Years of Collectabl ...

. Eventually, she discovers that François is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

; however, he does not practice his

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

. Throughout the film, she immerses herself in

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

, following traditions such as the Sabbath. François breaks up with her by telling her "your touch sickens me", after accusing her of lying. He then engages in several other affairs but fails to ever marry. She attempts to date a few men but does not create any true connections. Finally, at a wedding of their friend Valérie, Francois has broken up with yet another woman and claims to desire her. The movie ends with the famous line, "...to be continued" leaving viewers curious about their future.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has an approval rating of 25% based on reviews from 24 critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

the film has a score of 37% based on reviews from 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

References

External links

* *
''Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite''
at Movister 2001 films 2001 romantic comedy films Conversion to Judaism in popular culture French romantic comedy films 2000s French films 2000s French-language films 2000s Hebrew-language films 2001 multilingual films French multilingual films {{2000s-France-film-stub