Written and directed by Marion Laine, ‘A Coeur Ouvert’ (A Monkey On My Shoulder) features the story of two heart surgeons, man (Edgar Ramirez) and wife (Juliette Binoche), who operate on hearts during workdays and play by the beat of their own during their days off.

The viewer is thrown in a lovers’ paradise with Javier (Ramirez) and Mila (Binoche) forming the perfect heart-transplantation and clubbing/midnight sailing/screwing/drunken motorbike riding duo. Under the surface lies Javier’s drinking problem and Mila mind-bogglingy ignoring this problem. The problem however quickly surfaces and Javier’s colleagues file reports against him. This leads him to not working, being frustrated and drinking even more. Meanwhile, Mila gets pregnant (another doctor not realising the dangers of unprotected sex) and eventually she yields to his insistence to keep the baby, but the pregnancy results in having to postpone their project to move to South America. Then Javier gets frustrated and jealous and in no time at all they’re shouting at each other and throwing household objects against the – partially torn down – walls.

Laine’s script, adapted from Mathias Enard’s novel, is unconvincing and lacks in explaining either the nature of alcoholism (Javier’s addiction is not accounted for) or the hospital setting (there are artificial roles for Hippolyte Girardot and Amandine Dewasmes as colleagues). Laine has clearly mastered the technique of arthouse movie-making, but misses an individual voice and a gift for story-telling. The worst part of it all is the final dream sequence  which is set along the Orinoco river in Venezuela and which is excruciatingly corny and stale. It has visual power but – much as throughout the whole film – it is done with exaggerated symbolism and feels rather like a cop-out than a clever narrative solution.

Laine was eager to work with Ramirez, who in turn suggested Binoche and they are a convincing pair of eternal lovebirds, but not as heart surgeons. Unfortunately for them, they have the unwilling task to act up a storm while having to avoid the excessively clear symbolism. The cinematography is alright, but it all boils down to Laine’s inability to write a convincing script and story. Still, Binoche and Ramirez are never successful in making up for this.

A Coeur Ouvert will be released in Dutch cinemas on 18th July.