| Time Out | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Laurent Cantet |
| Produced by | Barbara Letellier |
| Written by | Robin Campillo Laurent Cantet |
| Starring | Aurélien Recoing Karin Viard |
| Music by | Jocelyn Pook |
| Cinematography | Pierre Milon |
| Editing by | Robin Campillo Stephanie Leger |
| Distributed by | A-Film Distribution Haut et Court |
| Release date(s) | 4 September 2001 (Italy) 14 November 2001 (France) |
| Running time | 134 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Box office | USD 448,542[1] |
Time Out (French: L'Emploi du temps) is a 2001 French drama directed by Laurent Cantet, starring Aurélien Recoing and Karin Viard. Loosely based on the life story of Jean-Claude Romand (though without the criminal element), it focuses on one of Cantet's favorite subject matters: a man's relationship with his job. L'Emploi du Temps has received considerable attention internationally and was shown at the Venice Film Festival and Montreal's New Cinema Festival. It was one of the independent films to be featured at the 2005 Traverse City Film Festival.
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The film tells the story of Vincent, a middle-aged man who is laid off after having spent more than 11 years working for a prestigious consulting firm. Unable to admit to his family that he has been fired, the unemployed executive continues to pretend he is going to the office every day. In reality, Vincent spends his time aimlessly driving the highways of France and Switzerland, reading papers, or sleeping in his car.
As the movie progresses, the protagonist invents more and more elaborate lies, throwing himself into a vicious spiral of deceit. To sustain his bourgeois lifestyle, Vincent sets up an investment scam and is eventually enlisted into smuggling by career thief Jean-Michel. The 132-minute long film ends when Murielle (Vincent's wife), discovering her husband's "life of lies," attempts to bring him back into the realm of reality. The final scene, however, suggests that her efforts have failed.
L'Emploi du temps was placed at 99 on Slant Magazine's best films of the 2000s,[2], No.9 of The Guardian's Best Films of the Noughties[3], and number 11 at The AV Club's top 50 films of the '00s.[4]