The Eighth Day (Le Huitième Jour) poster & wallpaper
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Daniel Auteuil, Pascal Duquenne, Miou-Miou, Isabelle Sadoyan, Henri Garcin ... see more see more... , Michele Maes , Jo De Backer , Didier De Neck , Josse De Pauw , Didier Ferney , Dominic Gould , Gerard Hernandez , Raymond Lescot , Sabrina Leurquin , Fabienne Loriaux , Remy Julienne , Helene Roussel , Marc Schreiber , Alexandre von Sivers , Roland Depauw , Jean-Henri Compère , Olivier Gourmet , Dieudonné Kabongo , Andrea Simon , Georges Siatidis , Jean Bollery , Alain Bougnet , Magali Côte , Sophie De Kerkhove , Guy De Longree , Isabelle De Nayer , Erik De Staercke , Yves Degen , Jean Désert , Bernard Eylenbosch , Monique Fluzin , Jacqueline Ghaye , Marie Godeau , Pierre Godeau , Michèle Gousset , Patrick Harcq , Laszlo Harmati , Christian Hecq , Philippe Hinck , Patricia Houyoux , Lotfi Yahia Jedidi , Stéphane Keyser , Kim Chi N'Guyen , Dominique Lecat , Fernand Leclercq , Nicolas Meeus , Marie-Pierre Meinzel , Yves Pelgrims , Jean-Luc Piraux , Nathalie Ponlot , Vincent Rapaillerie , Séréna Ruspoli , Ebrahim Salem , Jacques Staes , Alex Stainier , Tam Vo , Alice van Dormael , Juliette Van Dormael , Yasmine Van Hevel , Christian Van Vlierberghe , Laurette Vankeerberghen , Claude Vienne , Pauline Zerla

Two men with seemingly nothing in common become unlikely friends in this drama from France. Harry (Daniel Auteuil) is a salesman working for a large but faceless corporation, where he's become a succe... read more read more...ss at the expense of his personal life. His wife Julie (Miou-Miou), frustrated by his lack of concern for his family, has divorced him, and while he still has visitation rights to his children, he manages to forget when it's his weekend with his daughters, and he neglects to pick them up at the train station. Harry is depressed and nearly suicidal; while driving late one rainy night, he accidentally hits a dog who is walking with Georges (Pascal Duquenne), a personable young man with Down's Syndrome. Georges lives in a mental institution, where he's happy and well cared for, but when several of the other patients leave for a weekend visit, Georges decides that he should leave too, and he sets out to visit his mother. Harry can't bring himself to leave Georges behind, so after burying the dog, he offers to drive him to his mother's home, which becomes the start of a complicated odyssey for the two of them, especially after Harry finds out that Georges' mother is no longer alive. Actor Pascal Duquenne actually does have Down's Syndrome; he and co-star Daniel Auteuil shared the Best Actor award at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

85% liked it

4,847 ratings

Critics

67% liked it

6 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 54 min.

Directed by: Jaco Van Dormael

Release Date: May 22, 1996

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Stats: 264 reviews

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Pascal Duquenne & Daniel Auteuil Pascal Duquenne & Daniel Auteuil
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Flixster Reviews (264)

  • fb100002359227440
    January 1, 2012
    fb100002359227440
    A beautiful and powerful, Van Dormael's film is magic and present wonderful works of Mr. Auteuil and Mr. Duquenne.
  • imrealgod
    February 14, 2011
    imrealgod
    Hm, so it seems I'm once again in minority (well, that's not unusual). I found it neither funny enough nor emotional enough. And the major problem: I despise it heavily when logic is defied for the sake of entertainment, while it could have been made equally entertaining while st... read moreill maintaining (more or less) logic. The movie is way too cheesy for its own good. Harry's attachment to Georges, an invalid stranger, was quite abrupt and seemed forced. Why doesn't he leave him when he gets out of his car? He too wishes to get rid of him at that time. But suddenly he develops a special feeling for him and begins to care for him more than George's own sister. Okay, I understand that he gets soft for him because he also shares the feeling of being abandoned. The relationship could have been better established without sacrificing entertainment. The way the sequences are handled in this movie is quite poor, IMHO. Surely, it reminds one of Rain Man which was far better than this one. I'd rather watch Rain Man umpteenth times than watch this one again. It neither generates enough laughs (I laughed only when Harry was getting beaten by the truck driver) nor enough emotions to moist your eyes.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 22, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    Very touching Movie. Tissue required to watch this Movie.
  • arashxak
    October 4, 2008
    arashxak
    Puts movies like Rain Man & Forrest Gump in shade, Simply touching & powerful with great perfs
  • brentehammer
    March 11, 2008
    brentehammer
    its sentimental french film no doubt and thus most wont like it but some will be drawn to the characters.
  • tigrisdf
    March 25, 2007
    tigrisdf
    great movie about life. saw the premier in chicago. daniel auteuil & pascal duquenne were as geniune as the chars of this movie.
  • sleepykiss
    February 22, 2007
    sleepykiss
    "And on the eighth day, he made Georges. And he saw it was good..." So very, very wonderful. A major weeper, but in a good way. Luv DA always.
  • bizbiz968
    January 12, 2007
    bizbiz968
    i watched in it french class, and even though it has a good moral, it was too different for me to enjoy
  • johnbassett
    November 15, 2006
    johnbassett
    One the best films I've ever seen. Has a real story and character development and runs the gamut of emotions

View All The Eighth Day (Le Huitième Jour) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Mike Clark
January 1, 2000
Mike Clark, USA Today

Try imagining Rain Man without the laughs but with fantasy sequences featuring a Mexican singer in garb out of Chevy Chase's Three Amigos! and a mouse.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
March 13, 2002
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

A buoyant spiritual film that celebrates the mysteries of friendship and precious moments of wonder when life sparkles. Full Review

December 23, 2002
Globe and Mail

Click to read the article Full Review

Kevin Thomas
February 14, 2001
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Edward Guthmann
January 1, 2000
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

Click to read the article Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Janet Maslin
January 1, 2000
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
August 29, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

David Poland
July 26, 2002
David Poland, Hot Button

No review available.

January 26, 2006
Time Out

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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