Based on the 2000 book of the same name by Emmanuel Carrère, it is inspired by the real-life story of Jean-Claude Romand. L'Adversaire's protagonist Jean-Marc Faure (Auteuil) pursues an imaginary career as a doctor of medicine in a plot more closely based on Romand's life and Carrère's book than was Laurent Cantet's 2001 film L'Emploi du Temps. The film was nominated for a Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.
Guy is a dogsitter. In the evening of a day where he has once again disappointed himself, on the edge of dropping off his last dog, he is stopped by bursts of voices. At the height of an argument, the dog's owners declare a minute of silence to solemnly consecrate their separation. Frozen, in spite of himself, in the kitchen of this couple, Guy's reminding the thread of his day (which is also the one of his life) and tries to read in it the sign of a destiny and a hope.
Happily married with a daughter, Marc is a successful real estate agent in Aix-en-Provence. One day, he has an appointment with a woman to view a traditional country house. A few hours later, Marc finally puts a name to her face. It's Cathy, the girl he was in love with growing up in Oran, Algeria, in the last days of the French colonial regime. Marc hurries to her hotel. They spend the night together. Then she's gone again. And Marc's mother tells him Cathy never left Algeria. She was killed with her father in a bombing just before independence...
A staging of Frédéric Bélier-Garcia and Emmanuel Bourdieu's play "Le Mental de l'équipe" by Frédéric Bélier-Garcia and Denis Podalydès. In this comedy, two professional soccer teams go head-to-head. The players observe different tactical schemes proposed by the coach, under the guidance of a psychological trainer, who ensures the team's mental strength.