Growing pains: a French high school jock deals with being forced out of the closet in You'll Get Over It.

You'll Get Over It

* Written by Vincent Molina * Directed by Fabrice Cazeneuve * Starring Julien Baumgartner, Jeremie Elkaim, Francois Comar * Picture This!

Over the past decade the coming-out story has practically become a genre unto itself for gays and lesbians, with films such as the British romance Beautiful Thing and the American sadder-but-wiser tales Edge of Seventeen and The Truth About Jane. But in France it's something of a specialite de la maison: Wild Reeds being the most admired, Come Undone the most sexually charged, and L'Homme Blesse the most experimental.

That said, many moviegoers persist in believing they've seen it all before. In 2004 that may be true in a general sense, but this shouldn't rule out an intelligent filmmaker managing to make the overly familiar seem fresh. And that's certainly the case with You'll Get Over It.

Directed by Fabrice Cazeneuve from a frankly autobiographical screenplay by Vincent Molina, this drama was originally made for television. But there's nothing visually or dramatically cramped about it. Centered on a seemingly ordinary high school kid named--did I mention this was autobiographical?--Vincent (played by the very dashing Julien Baumgartner), it deftly delves beneath the deceptively placid surface of his rather complex life. While he's a champion swimmer, respected by all, with a loyal best pal, Stephane (Francois Comar), and a pretty girlfriend, Noemie (Julia Maraval), we soon learn Vincent's been having casual gay affairs on the side.

When a new and very out schoolmate, Benjamin (Jeremie Elkaim), comes on the scene, the situation rapidly reaches a crisis point. Learning the truth, the entire school turns on Vincent. Pede ("fag") is sprayed on his locker door, his family--particularly his very macho boxer brother (Antoine Michel)--is enraged, his best pal keeps his distance, and Noemie, believing that seduction will "save" him, is thrown for a complete loop when it doesn't. But a thoughtful swim coach (Bernard Blancan) is determined not to lose a star athlete. Moreover, he knows that if Vincent throws himself into training, he can prove his worth both to his schoolmates and, more important, to himself.

While this may sound like standard uplift, drama, director Cazeneuve and screenwriter Molina keep their film bromide-free. The most important battle goes on inside their hero, and his triumph is no Rocky moment. For when it comes to gay self-realization, real victory can often be achieved in the quietest of ways.

Ehrenstein is the author of Open Secret: Gay Hollywood, 1928-2000.