I've always known I was lucky. Mrs W and I will have been married for 23 years later this month and have been together since March 1986.
I was just 22 when I asked her out at the local pub.
Thus, I have not had an enormous experience of stunning rejection and unrequited love. As said, I was very young when I met the love of my life and I like to think the attraction has been mutual (at least I hope so).
Nevertheless, director Xavier Dolan's Heartbeats even struck a chord with me as it will with everyone who has been infatuated and no feelings have been returned.
True, my hopeless crushes were when I was a teenager and so didn't have the impact they can in later life.
And they weren't quite as complicated as the set up here.
Dolan himself plays a young gay guy, Francis, who is obsessed with a fop-haired youth Nicolas (Niels Schneider). His rival in love is his best friend Marie (Monia Chokri).
At first, Nicolas flirts outrageously with both of them.
Consequently, they sell more and more of their souls in an attempt to win the race for his affection.
Marie dresses like Audrey Hepburn, Nicolas's screen idol, while Francis models himself on James Dean,
But as the film progresses it becomes clear that the target of their desires is becoming more distant and the cost is their own friendship, as well as their dignity.
I really do doff my cap to Dolan. To carry off a piece of work of this maturity at the age of 22 is amazing.
Heartbeats is splendidly well observed and the characters (his included), while frighteningly irritating at times and rather arty, are authentic (I suspect I could find a few similar types in West Bridgford, Nottingham).
And he doesn't fall for the usual cliches. I was genuinely shocked to watch a French film about love without a boob or a bum cheek.
At one stage I thought we were going to be in for a reprise of Andrew Fleming's Threesome but I'm glad we weren't - that would have diluted the story and made it crass.
In short Heartbeats was not a classic but it was certainly good enough to mark Dolan down as a figure with huge potential.
It's mark? I'll say 6.5/10
And thanks to Grace at Network Releasing who made such a big effort to get me the DVD screener.
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