I don't really understand the approach that some people bring to commenting on a given film. I'm speaking specifically of what appears to be what I can only describe as resentment that a given actor - Duke Wayne is a prime example - appears to play himself in every film when that aberration is the very thing that has propelled him to stardom. Surely if it's widely known that, to take another example, Fred Astaire specialized in musical films that called upon him to sing and dance and YOU don't LIKE musical films then why pay money to see them and then moan because the leading player does what he is best known for. Jean-Pierre Bacri who is as fine an actor as he is a writer, which is saying a lot, has developed a persona of morose, misanthropic grouch and polished it until it gleams but most people who regularly watch French films know this and choose to celebrate the ease with which he assumes this persona rather than finding fault with it. In Kennedy et Moi he displays yet another facet of this character playing as he does a writer who is fresh out of ideas and is in addition undergoing a mid-life crisis. Sam Karman, who appeared in the original stage production of Cuisine et Dependences which was co-written by Bacri and his long-term partner Agnes Jaoui, and subsequently played alongside Bacri and Jaoui once more in the film version, has written and directed a fine film that explores this all-too common subject. Bacri is excellent as always and Karman himself offers fine support as does another fine actress-turned-director Nicole Garcia as Bacri's wife. This is a modest film but highly enjoyable.

Bacri's character is sick and tired of his spouse,his work (as a writer running out of ideas),his offspring,his doctor,his dentist,his friends,the whole world.Like Mickael Douglas in "falling down" ,he goes off the rails:but whereas Schumacher's hero opts for violence,Bacri's character chooses a provocative way.He 's sparing of gestures ,but his sullen looks are priceless.

He seems to live in another world,which he has built from start to finish from his shrink's watch which might have belonged to Kennedy (hence the title).The scene on the boat -which features a very funny cameo by Jean-Claude Brialy- climaxes the movie ,with its despise of the family values (shall I bring back the wreath?).A short movie (about 80 minutes) but delightfully unpolitically correct.

Simon, a French writer, finds himself permanently blocked. He and his wife are heading into a tough time in their married life. Simon has discovered his wife, Anna, is having an affair with a colleague at the hospital where she works. With a pretext of an ear problem, Simon asks for an appointment with Dr. Munthe, only to realize he just does not care to confront him.

Simon Polaris shows deeper signs of being in a mild depression. His visits to his therapist pique his curiosity because the analyst keeps his left hand in his pocket all the time. The secret is revealed: his precious Hamilton watch belonged to the late American president John F. Kennedy. In getting to know the story, Simon decides he must have the watch.

Life at home is further complicated when his daughter, Alice, announces she is getting engaged to be married to a dentist. Simon, who has suffered a botched gum operation, does not care for his future son-in- law. Anne and Simon try to work out their relationship, but nothing comes out of it. At the end, Simon is just as lonely and unhappy as at the beginning of the story.

Directed by Sam Karmann, who also appears in a minor role, the film is one of those attempts to explain the reason behind Simon's own funk, which is never clearly explained. On the other hand, the film shows the excellent Jean-Pierre Bacri totally dominating the action. Nicole Garcia's Anne is an enigma. She is a chain smoker whose life has turned in a different direction from her husband.