IN this new age of SMS, MSN, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, it seems the lines of communication are becoming increasingly lost in cyberspace.
Amidst the ever-increasing presence and growth of 21st century technology, parents find themselves faced with the challenge of keeping alive face-to-face communication with their teen iGen offspring.
It is this issue that drives the charming little French film LOL (Laughing Out Loud).
Lola (Christa Theret) is a Parisian high schooler who has just broken up with her boyfriend – the too-cool-for-school Arthur (Felix Moati) – but soon finds herself in the arms of another, Arthur’s best friend and rock band mate, Mael (Jeremy Kapone).
Meanwhile, her well-heeled mother Anne (Sophie Marceau) has love life issues of her own, having an affair with her ex-husband.
When she suspects the laptop-obsessed Lola may be sexually active or using drugs, it prompts her to consider her parental responsibilities in the context of her own irresponsible conduct as an adult.
While having much in common with that other recent Gallic teen romantic comedy The French Kissers – yes, there is yet another cast of oddball, sexually-charged schoolyard characters here – LOL will endear itself to a much wider audience with its themes of inter-generational familial relationships.
The two leads playfully bounce off another, with glamorous French cinema veteran Marceau – who played one of the villainous Bond girls in The World Is Not Enough – bringing her typically radiant glow to the screen.
Youngster Theret affirms her status as a star on the rise, garnering a Most Promising Actress nomination in the 2010 Cesar Awards (French Oscars).
Living up to its moniker’s promise, there is many a laugh-out-loud moment in this cutesy, heart-warming albeit run-of-the-mill comic romp, in particular when the French teens make a cultural mockery of the Brits while in the UK on an English exchange visit.
Yes, it seems Anglo-Gallic rivalry almost qualifies as an Olympic sport, something repeatedly upheld by cinema.
And it manages to remain a whole lot of fun to watch.
LOL (Laughing Out Loud)
Directed by: Lisa Azuelos
Starring: Sophie Marceau, Christa Theret
Rating: Three-and-a-half stars
Screening: As part of the French Film Festival 2010 at Luna on SX on March 17 at 6.45pm; and Cinema Paradiso on March 21 at 4.15pm and March 27 at 6.45pm