If you like this kind of film you'll like this, and I'm only being a little facetious.

Personally, I'm not a grand admirer of family dramas but _An Impossible Love_ has a sense of authenticity to it that rings true, thanks in part to the actors (Niels Schneider, the drop dead gorgeous actor from Xavier Dolan's _Les Amours Imaginaires_ / _Heartbeats_, is as talented as he is beautiful) and in large part to the directing. Catherine Corsini pulls off a period piece where the costumes, decor and scenery make the actual film itself look like it was manufactured in the 1960s.

The cons of _An Impossible Life_ are the female characters, who are far from the strong women we are now used to seeing in cinema. [spoiler] (The female lead basically suffers because every time she runs back to her man he treats her like shit, and there's a point one wonders why she keeps running back to him at all.) [/spoiler] Probably the biggest shortcoming, however, is the length, because the movie is a 3-act play with 4 acts.

In the end, though, the film succeeds in becoming what it sets out to be and that's what makes any film a good film, not its ability to match my personal penchants and preferences.