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2 Seconds

1998 Canadian drama film

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2 Seconds (French: 2 secondes) is a 1998 Canadian drama film. This film premiered in 1999 at the Sundance Film Festival. Written and directed by Manon Briand, 2 Seconds stars Charlotte Laurier as Laurie, a bisexual woman who takes a job as a bike courier in Montreal after being fired from her previous job as a professional downhill racer.

01Synopsis

Laurie is forcefully retired as a downhill racer when her concerns about her signs of aging cause her to lose her last race by 2 seconds (hence the name of the movie). Laurie and the one bike she was allowed to keep then move in with her geeky, physics-loving brother who is trying very hard to find a girlfriend. While putting her bike together, Laurie discovers that she is missing a gear on her bicyclette so she makes do with what she has. Because of this, she breaks the chain on her bike one day, leading to her meeting with her soon-to-be best friend Lorenzo. Lorenzo is an ex Italian professional racer who currently works as a bike mechanic in his own bike shop. offered her a job at the bicycle company, but one of her co workers, Willie, tries to make her life miserable. After talking to Lorenzo, Laurie figures out what she needs to do to help herself and try to resolve things.

02Cast

  • Charlotte Laurier as Laurie, a professional downhill racer who gets fired because of her slight overindulgence in irresponsibility
  • Dino Tavarone as Lorenzo, an ex Italian professional racer who currently works as a bike mechanic in his own bike shop
  • Jonathan Bolduc as Jeune Lorenzo
  • Suzanne Clément as La Bella, Laurie's love interest
  • Yves P. Pelletier as Steff
  • Louise Forestier as Laurie's Mother

03Reception

Critical reception

Brendan Kelly of Variety praised the film, saying "there is no shortage of nifty visual flourishes. . .Soundtrack is an appropriately cool urban mix of jazz and modern-rock sounds." The Melbourne International Film Festival called it "An understated film with an extraordinarily simple premise"

04Awards

Year Award Category Recipients Results
1998 Montreal World Film Festival Best Canadian Film Manon Briand Won
Best Director Manon Briand Won
Montréal award of the best First Fiction Film Manon Briand Won
Grand Prix des Ameriques Manon Briand Nominated
FedEx Award of the best Canadian Film 2 secondes (Manon Briand) Won
1998 Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film Best First Screenplay Manon Briand Won
1999 1st Jutra Awards Best Picture Roger Frappier Nominated
Best Director Manon Briand Nominated
Best Actor Dino Tavarone Nominated
Best Actress Charlotte Laurier Nominated
Best Screenplay Manon Briand Nominated
Best Sound Yvon Benoît, Martin Pinsonnault, Hans Peter Strobl, Louis Hone Nominated
Best Editing Richard Comeau Nominated
Watch videos about 2 SecondsExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article 2 Seconds, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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