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I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Jean-Pierre Limosin, director of "Novo", has directed other titles such as "Faux Fuyants", "Gardien de la nuit", "L'autre nuit", "Carmen", "Young Yakuza", and "Tokyo Eyes" which was shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. He is known most for his dramas and his documentaries."Novo" is one of his very erotic dramas. To me, there is too much sex and not enough plot. There is so much sex that after watching it when I was asked what it was about, my only response was "sex." I would like this film better if the sex were more implied instead of being explicit, and if there were more dialogue between the characters.Despite all of the sex, this movie does explore some interest ideas. One of these is the healing power of love. Throughout the film, the main character Graham can only remember things for a few minutes. But after meeting his lover Irene, his memory span starts growing. He still cannot remember his wife, but that is because his wife never truly loved him. We know this because she starts cheating on Graham with his best friend after Graham loses his memory. We know that Irene's love is real, though, because she sticks with Graham despite his memory problems.Another idea in the movie is actually explicitly stated by the character Irene. At the end of the movie, she says, "Love is about forgetting time, yet remembering it can end at any time." This is most evidenced in Graham. Once he meets Irene and falls in love with her, he shows his love by trying desperately to remember her name and writing notes in his journal about the time they spend together. If something were to happen to his notes or if he lost contact with her, he could completely forget her and their love would be over.To me, this movie is definitely a French movie because of two things. The first and most obvious thing is how open this movie is about showing sex and naked bodies on screen without holding back. This reflects that in the French culture, people are much more open about their bodies and who sees them. In America, for the most part people are more private about their sexuality and nakedness. The second thing that makes this a French movie for me is how infrequently the characters are at work. In American movies, the characters are constantly at work, more so than at home. This reflects that French truly are at work less than Americans and that they have more vacation time than Americans. That is something I wish America would adopt.

I have heard that Novo was compared to Memento for the simple fact they both rely on main characters suffering from short-term memory loss. Well, that's like comparing The Silence of the Lambs and Friday the 13th as both involved a character that killed multiple people. They couldn't be further apart in ideas.Novo deals with a copier man at a company who does have short term memory loss. He is consistently followed by another gentleman and his boss likes to have sex with him in the office. In comes a temp who also gets involved with him and may/may not use him for sex. Needless to say, he has a lot of on-screen sex.Wait, there's more. There's a boy who runs into the troubled amnesia male and it's obvious there's more to this boy just bumping into him. And there's a notebook the man keeps to try and remember important clues.I admit I am not one for foreign-made films. I don't mind reading the subtitles, but I do mind that sometimes that takes away from one of my favorite aspects of a film: great dialogue. Since they have to translate, or I wouldn't be able to understand for the most part, I truly believe they simplify what the characters have to say. This movie was no exception; the dialogue was just, well, blah.As for the story, it was interesting enough to keep me around for 98 minutes. Weird, yes, but then again I don't live in France, so I am not as familiar with their likes/dislike or lifestyles. (Such as, I guess it's acceptable for a father to lie with and frolic in the buff with his son on the beach – that must be a cultural thing.) Thankfully it wasn't two+ hours of time invested in watching this man regain his past and progressively move forward to his cure. For, when the "secret" is learned, I was like, really? Well, okay then.I can only recommend for somewhat decent acting, good looking folks and soft-porn sexual situations (like every 2-4 minutes,) however if you're not into that sort of scene, I would wholeheartedly skip this slow moving and memory-regaining film.

A disturbing film, this, climaxing, as it does, with an intensely intimate reunion between a naked man and his young son, but in its confused structure it contains a poetically imagined visual exploration of the innocence of an idealised amnesiac.The plot follows two threads, the weaker of which is the gradual revelation of Graham/Pablo's condition. Wound through this, though, is a beautiful description of his condition, and his meandering path towards a partial awakening, driven by his affair with Irene.The affair is the strong thread, while the specifics of the plot are carried by a seemingly tacked on collection of characters: Graham's best friend, who can reveal the cause of his condition in a clunking flashback, his manipulative boss and his comic book mad scientist psychologist: all of whom have an interest in keeping him lost and dependent.The failure of the film lies in the conflict between the two threads. One is visual, meandering and sublime, while the other is structured like an inept thriller, all expository dialogue and unresolved patterns of symbolism.Nevertheless, I enjoyed Novo. It keeps flirting with the abyss of taboo and shying away into something beautiful, as in the quarry, with the double bassist and the two women, when a setup for a scene of cheap pornography becomes a segment of peace and rejuvenation. I still don't get the tooth, though.Odd, clunky and a narrative failure, but with an almost redeeming beauty.

Jean Pierre Limosin has taken on a story interlacing memory, love, history, and passion that not only has pertinence in our galloping society of hasty encounters and transient relationships but also pleads a case for people with cognitive dysfunction. Unfortunately the film is marketed as a comedy and while there are some curious incidents that cause a bit of nervous laughter, this viewer sees the work as more of a difficult struggle for those affected by mental malfunctions that affect not only the patient but also those who surround him.Graham/Pablo (the handsome and gifted Spanish actor Eduardo Noriega - 'Burnt Money', 'Abre los ojos', The Devil's Backbone', etc), though obviously bright and capable, works as a photocopy clerk for a large company, but suffers from memory loss, a deficit that prevents his remembering his wife Isabelle (Paz Vega) and son Antoine (Lény Bueno), his best friend Fred (Eric Caravaca), and his fellow coworkers. It also obscures his memory of flirtations and sexual encounters, including libidinous frequent seductions from his boss Sabine (Nathalie Richard). When a temporary worker Irene (Anna Mougalis) is hired Graham is told to show her the building and they end up on the roof in a passionate embrace - which of course Graham immediately forgets. But daily encounters with Irene gradually become so rich in passion that they somehow begin to register on Graham's tabula rasa mind condition! Graham's means of survival lies in the notebook attached to his wrist in which he keeps a diary of all events to remind him of each day's events. This 'artificial memory/identity' provides information for Irene, for Fred, and for his doctors and each of them has reasons to use this diary to their own ends: Fred while supportive of his friend is actually in love with Isabelle, and Irene finds evidence of Graham's affection for her that suggests to her a method of helping Graham restore his memory - and in doing so, possibly win his permanent allegiance to her.There are some bumpy portions of this film that create confusion at times, but in retrospect one wonders if this might have been the intention of the director - placing us as viewers into the mindset of short term memory loss to better understand Graham's plight! The cast is uniformly strong and Eduardo Noriega once again proves that he is completely capable of taking on a challenging role and finding the humanity within. Yes, there are some graphic sex scenes but they serve to intensify the flow of the story in view of the condition of Graham to whom every encounter has all the lust of a first encounter with an unknown lover! Recommended. Grady Harp