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ElMaruecan82
There was a time when "The Simpsons" were influencing Pop Culture. Now, it's Pop Culture influencing "The Simpsons"
I love movies that challenge my intelligence, please my eyes, and talk to my heart
Personal Top Lists:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur4234119/lists
IMDb Daily Poll Selection History :
Most classic one-word movie quote : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-02-27
Most classic "written" quote : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-04-02
Movie quote said in front of your mirror : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-04-15
Favorite cinematic 'Frank' : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-04-28
Most classic 'three-word' movie quote : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-05-25
Movie title best defining your life right now : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-06-09
"Morning" movie quote best defining your mood when you wake up : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-07-07
Most elaborated revenge scheme featured in a movie : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-08-09
Most iconic three-word movie quote (with a contraction): http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-09-17
Favorite pairing from the list of Best Actor nominated duos : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-10-11
Favorite female villain from the American Film Institute's list : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-10-16
Favorite Actress from the top 10 of AFI's "America's Greatest Legends": http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-11-09
Favorite Actor from the top 10 of AFI's "America's Greatest Legends": http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-11-10
Most classic 'two-word' movie quote : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-11-27
Movie genre matching your own resolution for 2010 : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2009-12-31
Favorite cinematic hero from a Best Picture Winner : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-01-05
Favorite gangster film from AFI's Top 10 : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-01-28
Favorite one-word TV catchphrase : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-03-06
Most memorable "walking" movie scene : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-03-14
Favorite TV Duo with names beginning with same initials : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-03-24
Favorite highest ranked movie by genre from AFI's Top 100 : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-03-25
Favorite iconic female movie quote from AFI's Top 100: http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-04-05
Favorite of Top 10 Voyeuristic movies: http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-04-16
TV show title best defining your life right now: http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-05-01
Favorite Harrison Ford movie nominated for Best Picture oscar: http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-05-04
Film icon most likely to win a staring contest: http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-05-15
Favorite gangster from one of AFI's Top 10 films: http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-06-01
Favorite movie set in a hotel (or motel): http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-06-03
Movie with the most claustrophobic feeling : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-07-01
Favorite "Flying" movie moment : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-07-05
Favorite cinematic pig : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-07-12
Favorite cinematic photographer : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-07-13
Favorite one-word Mystery film : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-07-19
Favorite TV-themed movie : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-08-04
Favorite actress with oscars nods in at least 4 decades : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-08-12
Favorite actor with oscar nods in at least 4 different decades : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-08-13
Favorite TV/movie cliffhanger quote : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-08-14
Most iconic TV item of clothing : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-08-25
Movie quote best defining Al Pacino : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-08-31
Favorite TV/Movie Butler : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-09-25
Favorite narrator from IMDb's Top 50 : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-09-27
Favorite TV large group of siblings : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-11-06
Most iconic four-word movie quote : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-11-15
Director most likely to direct a Best Picture winner first : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-11-26
Most enjoyed TV's opening credits sequence : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-12-01
Most memorable cinematic question : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-12-10
Most tiring ciliché movie profession : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-12-19
Most memorable child's movie quote : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-12-26
Favorite TV's male and female team : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2010-12-29
Favorite TV show that regularly broke the 4th Wall : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-01-05
Favorite TV's "acronym"-named character : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-01-08
Most memorable mystery from a TV series : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-02-02
Favorite 1960's tough-guy film : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-02-13
Best written film from Top 10 Favorite Screenplays : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-02-25
Favorite medical doctor from a non TV medical show : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-03-09
Favorite horror-themed TV series : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-03-11
Favorite classic sci-fi film released in 1982 : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-04-07
Favorite cinematic moving object : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-04-17
Most original cinematic deadly object : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-05-05
Favorite TV series with a titular setting : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-05-11
Most iconic TV gameshow cathcphrase : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-05-18
Favorite TV bespectacled character : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-05-25
Most deserving film-maker of a theme park : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-05-31
Favorite Western-themed TV series : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-06-08
Most iconic movie cop : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-06-17
Favorite Best Picture moment from Ebert's 100 greatest : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-06-21
Disney film that should be remade by David Lynch : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-06-28
Favorite oscar-winning Columbo "murderer" : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-06-29
Favorite 1999 existential film : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-07-01
Favorite TV show featuring puppetry : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-07-02
Favorite first performer to win Oscar twice in the same category : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-07-18
Favorite TV show aired during 11 seasons : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-07-20
TV kid best defining your childhood personality : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-07-23
Movies with the most nightmarish feel : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-07-25
Favorite character "good" or "bad" : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-08-14
Favorite TV character using a wheelchair : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-08-17
Favorite top ranked 70's one-word title film : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-08-30
Director that "owned" the 60's : http://www.imdb.com/poll/results/2011-09-01
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(the question and answer can be delivered by the same character in one single quote)
The exchange shouldn't exceed four sentences, otherwise we're not talking about quotes but about dialogue, so sorry for the Pulp Fiction (1994) fans but the iconic "What" sequence between Jules and Brett is ineligible for this poll.
Want to discuss it? -It's here my friend."
PS: Some classic quotes are actually answers to questions ("These go to eleven", "Badges? We don't need no badges..." "We'll always have Paris") but they're memorable without the need to quote the question question while "What have you got?" loses its impact without "What are you rebelling against?.
As there are also questions memorable enough without their answers ("Is it safe?", "Are you gonna bark all day little doggie or are you gonna bite?", "... do you punk?"...) They aren't listed either.
How many of the 100 Greatest American Film of All Time have you seen?
The images correspond to the Top 10 movies from the list.
So, from these 12 justice-related films (as in 12 Jurors), ranked in order of IMDb ratings, which one do you plead guilty of liking the most?
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of this unforgettable triplet, which other actor' "3-set of major performances from the same year", is your favorite?
* first or last names, but the names they're usually called by in the show
Which of these 13 classic thrillers is the most heart-pounding?
Which of these TV/movie stars who died in 1982 is your favorite?
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Bridge of Spies (2015)
The Bridge over the Torn Curtain...
In the midst of the Cold War paranoia, Jim Donovan (Tom Hanks) a lawyer specialized in insurance settlement is assigned to defend KGB spy Rudolf Abel, Mark Rylance in a performance that will deserve a few words. This is less a trial than a tactic to prevent the Soviet Union to politically exploit Abel's arrest, Abel's case must show the world that USA treated him democratically. But that's only a cover, which Donovan ignores. Like so many characters who populated Hanks' filmography, Donovan is a decent man and much more, a professional. He takes his job seriously and when he discovers that much of the evidence was found without search warrants, he even wants to call a vice of form.
So, what we get is a highly respected lawyer, with an Irish name, a respectable family, and a 'Red' who might have pulled a Rozenberg in his actions and might be the cause of New York's imminent nuking, in the minds of millions of Americans or kids, constantly brainwashed by these Nuclear mushroom images (you know these 'duck and cover' programs). Naturally, Abel's public image inevitably spills over Donovan who worries everyone from his family to his colleague, from the prosecutors to the judge, and his zeal doesn't help. That, alone, would have been the premise of a terrific movie, the contradiction of a man who does his job, out of decency and patriotism and is almost treated like a traitor. To think that there were supposed to counter-attack the Russian propaganda is one of these film's many subtle delights and it doesn't come as a surprise, that within this whole paranoid craze, you have these two men who seem to speak the same language.
It is not a friendship in the cinematic sense of the word, but it's a story of respect between two men who know the context they live in, their duty, their limitations, but still, find a 'bridge' of communication, which allows them to speak the same language, honor, principles and humanity. Rylance's performance looks like a one-note one, but don't get mislead, this is a man who was trained not to show any emotions, to keep a low-profile, so it's only through his eye-language, and a few words, that you can get to the core of his feelings. He says he's not afraid of the electric chair, but his stoicism is later counterbalanced by the 'although it wouldn't be my first chance'. This is not some robotic spy, this is a human being who's also caught in the requirements of his job. And his attitude, if not the public, earns him Donovan's everlasting sympathy.
Tom Hanks, as usual, doesn't need to speak loudly his emotions, we can see that from the way, he exchanges looks with Rylance, a nd after Abel's sentence, he pleads to Supreme Court arguing that there's no way, the USA should treat dishonorably a man who's only following a fighter's code the same way that America wished his men would follow the Constitution, There's a reciprocity in the wrong, but there's also in the right, for each of expression of defiance, there's one of respect. And what could have been a terrific climactic speech is only the precursor of the second act of the movie. Of course, there was no way, Abel would be found innocent, he wasn't anyway, so the film had to move to higher levels.
It's interesting that Donovan worked in insurance, this is a man who made a living out of predicting odds, and in 1957, it didn't take the highest insurance exec to guess one American spy might be arrested once, and Abel could be used as a bargaining chip. His eloquence convinces the judge and Abel escapes from the Rozenberg treatment, and of course, it pays off, as a spy pilot, Gary Michael Powers, is shut down while traveling above the Soviet territory on U-21 plane. Donovan is then entrusted to negotiate the exchange of prisoners, which would've been a formality if it wasn't for a little: the arrest of an American student in Berlin who, while attempting to get his girlfriend to the West Side, got himself arrested. When Donovan learns about this arrest, he can't imagine going back to America with only one person. The film turns into a very interesting chess game where Donovan must hit two birds with one stone, he must convince the Soviet and the East-German representatives, understands their motives, express his, and makes the timing his ally, rather than an obstacle. It's a heart-pounding race against the clock.
Although Steven Spielberg isn't renowned for being the most subtle director when it comes to emotions, his recent "Lincoln" was a signal that the tone of his movies abandoned their usual sentimentalism to some more mature material. Lincoln was less the noble-hearted hero than a positively Machiavellian tactician, and this is what Donovan is. And he plays the diplomatic games perfectly, learning how to be mild-mannered or firmly resolved, in the middle of a Cold War that wasn't just symbolically cold. This leads to a wonderful climax, whose first element of surprise is to reveal that the film's title wasn't just a metaphor.
Now, I read many comments accusing the film of being another propaganda movie. I would say it's more of Capra-like movie in its spirit. Besides, wasn't Abel the most fascinating character of the movie, and a hero to some extent? Weren't the Americans eager to fry Abel as a Western mob to lynch a cattle thief, and didn't one of the CIA guys even care of the American student? In fact, "Bridge of Spies" is beyond these considerations, it is less a thriller with two antagonistic sides, than a great character study with two similar men united by their patriotism and their sense of duty. And no matter how different the lifestyles are, two systems making such men possible can't be that bad.
Les Tuche 2 - Le rêve américain (2016)
It came close to being one of the funniest French comedies of the decade... if it wasn't for a botched third act...
To start with a bad pun, the first one didn't 'Tuche' me. It had a few laughs, smile-inducing and heart-warming moments praising such values as family and money-can't-buy-you-know-what, but I was disappointed by the dryness of gags given the promising material. Now, I'm thinking, having a 'hillbilly' family confronted to rich people wasn't exactly the most fertile concept comedy-wise. Still, the film was a commercial success nonetheless but from the way it ended, there was nothing justifying a sequel except a simple but great idea.
So, five years later, the Tuches visit America, it's so simple I wonder why this didn't make the first film. The North is impregnated with American pop-culture more than any French region, the father (Jean-Paul Rouve) is a French version of Homer Simpson (thinner with more hair), the mother is a plumper version of Marge, and in the grandpa role, you have Claire Nadeau as the scene-stealing grandmother who drank a few shot too many and talks in such a way she needs subtitles, and to complete the gallery, the young dim-witted brother loves big cars, the sister idolizes big-rack celebrities, and the precocious kid (remember, Donald) who's grown up since the last five years study in a prestigious campus of America.
Donald meets a cute student whose parents are rooted in the American WASP establishment, so he has no other choices than lying about his background, Jeff Tuche becomes a plastic surgeon, Cathy a 2010's version of Jackie Kennedy (while she's closer to Jackie Sardou, a reference only French readers will get, I'm sorry). And it doesn't take long before the Tuches decide to celebrate Donald's 16th birthday in America and then begins a comedy of opposition in the same vein than "Just Visiting" or "The Birdcage" as there's nothing funnier than watching people failing to pretend, but trying hard enough to never lose benefit of the doubt, it's like a tight-roping game where you laugh at the situation, the risks, the consequences, it's a win-win guarantee for laughs.
And there's a sequence of thirty minutes at least in the middle of the film where I believed this was one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time, and it reaches a pinnacle during a hilarious family dinner where Jeff is asked to say the Grace to the hilarious failure of the sunroof that brought tears to my eyes. At that moment, I was hoping the film would keep on the same track so I won't have to say a 'but'.
But
the film gets back to its old demons near the end, where many arcs are not closed you wonder why they were opened in the first place. The sister leaves her cheating soccer-player of a boyfriend but the man is in love, and wants to win back her love, he's mistaken for a terrorist, hitchhikes only to bump on a truck probably going to a KKK convention and then nothing. She's conned by a French crook who takes hot pictures of her body and sends her to crappy auditions, but the guy never gets any comeuppance. The worst is still Donald, who finally found the guts to tell his girlfriend's father where he comes from, and leaves without anything being left of his relationship. Isn't he in love anymore? Wasn't that girlfriend impressed by his move? Was she just a sort of plot-filler with a few lines and smiles thrown here and there?
The film spent too much time on a marriage crisis subplot. Jeff buys a hospital clinic, becomes a workaholic surgeon (he's just 'managing' the place like when he was a soccer coach), and of course, Cathy feels abandoned, just like the first film, and she becomes a good friend to a meek Canadian neighbor, also 'abused' by his wife. And together, they learn country music and together, they decide to participate in a dance contest in Vegas. Seriously, couldn't they come out with a fresher idea? There was no believable chemistry between Cathy and her 'lover', and you can't get from a hilarious campfire scene in an Indian reserve to a recycled sitcom storyline. Even Vegas was so frustratingly unexploited and the only hilarious moment was the Amish carriage that took them when their car broke down, that was a little glimpse of originality before it all fell down.
I know it's supposed to be a comedy with a heart, and I'm not saying it fails on that department, but when you don't embarrass to conclude many subplots involving the other family members, you don't need to take so damn dramatically the other parts? So they go to Vegas, the dance contest is over, the father makes a speech and he gets his love back. But there's more to, and you know in movies in Vegas, you must get two things: casinos and weddings, well, forget about the casinos, but there had to be the wedding between the brother and the gardener.
Yes, we know the brother is gay and I expected something about that, but the wedding felt not just gratuitous but ludicrous in the way it assumed that just because he was gay, he would marry the first guy he fell in love in America, it wouldn't have made sense even for a straight couple, unless you clearly show an intense and passionate love from the start, not just a few hugs and a night of moon-contemplation. Make the identity of the husband a gag, something touching and hilarious, it's just as if they were in a rush to conclude the film, and that's how it felt. There was basically no third act.
I get why I didn't like the first, it felt like the overlong set-up of a great comedy, that is "The Tuches 2", at least for two thirds of it. A pity because it came close to being one of the funniest French comedies of recent time.
The Big Short (2015)
The Trades of Wrath...
A few days ago, my wife told me that the French President, who made finance his personal enemy in election days had just voted a law, making people losing all their money if their bank were out of business, no one knew that, it was during summer. But she knew, she works in a bank. And God after watching "The Big Short", I'm not the least surprised. When will people understand how the game works, dammit?
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."
As much as I like this Twain quote, I wish they used instead ''A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain."
The greatness of Adam McKay's biographical tragicomedy (tragedy emphasized) lies in its pedagogical value: with fourth-wall breaking, a dense but easily-digestible script (co-written with Charles Randolph) and brilliant cameos explaining the complex intricacies of the credit system, you quickly catch the drift. The umbrella metaphor would've been one of these images that speak thousand words. And on that level, the collapse of the housing market in 2008 isn't exactly a 'Gene Kelly' rain, more of 'Noah's ark' one.
The film, like an ominous ticking bomb, chronicles the chain of events leading to the disaster, just like "Titanic', we know the end but the dynamite-editing makes the experience so exhilarating. It's like "Crisis for Dummies", the dummies we were for trusting our bankers more than our intelligence. How a credit works, where your money goes, and how you fill the portfolio of poker-face crooks who know how to make a delicious stew out of rotten fish heads.
Cheating is such a part of the game that the question is not 'how did that happen?', but 'how could that 'NOT' happen? The very premise of credit is fallacious when you think about it (and this comes from someone who's still paying his studies loan debts after 14 years). The greatest trick of the credit system is to make you believe that you can buy something you actually can't. And this is why sub-prime loans (high risks for fewer returns, worthless mortgages making as worthless bonds) have been created, this is the butterfly's fart that will end up in a hurricane, and hedge fund manager Michael Burry( (Christian Bale) smelled the fart before everyone else.
Burry checks a few lines and columns on Excel, and decides to "short the bond", meaning to bet against the housing market by creating a credit default swap market. Let's just say, it's like investing on pharmaceuticals when you're the only one who knows about the imminence of a bacterial war. Many banks accept his offer, which implies that he'll hit the jackpot only in the (then unconceivable) case that the housing market collapses. It's one of these cases where even Bale can betray in his eyes, the one that works anyway, something like "I wish I was wrong", and he's not the only one who feels this way.
There's Mark Baum, another hedge manager who's alerted by a trader played by Ryan Gosling about Burry's move. They can see the sword of Damocles over their heads and do their own investigations, from estate agents bragging about their exploits: selling expensive houses to poor schmucks or Standards & Poors selling lousy debt obligation with excellent ratings (law of the market), they know there's something fishy. Meanwhile, two young investors (John Magaro and Finn Wittrock) learn about the situation and with the help of a retired banker, played by Brad Pitt, they go to Mortgage Securities Forum in Las Vegas and make enough deals to be able to buy out the same 'insurance' than Burry, they're on the safe side.
And this is when Pitt's character interrupts their celebration by reminding them, that lives will be lost at each percentage of unemployment rising, and that there's nothing to be joyful about. And that's what makes "The Big Short" such a magnificent storyteller. Just when you get an overdose of financial jargon, you have Margot Robbie in a bathtub explaining to you the mortgage system (the script should win the Oscar just for that), just when you wonder what has become of this character, you get to him, and just when the comedic tones gets too palpable, you have a moment of genuine decency reminding you that that the film is the chronicle of a predicted tragedy.
There's a similar moment where Mark Baum discusses with a businessman who created synthetic CDOs, increasingly large bets on faulty loan brilliantly explained by Selena Gomez who plays a black jack player inspiring many viewers to bet for her on the basis that she had won every time. She'd lose ultimately but it's one thing to lose five thousands on a risk that cost you five thousands, but when financial tricks turns the five thousand into millions, in terms of massive destructive weapons, these CDOs are the real stuff, and Baum knows the bomb is soon to explode. It's almost ironic that his name sounds like Boom.
It makes sense that some cultures forbid interest rates on the basis that nothing should be bought above its intrinsic value. Metal has value, salt has value, but what value has paper than the numbers written on? Why should it take you 20 years to buy an apartment thrice its price? Because finance says '1$ today isn't 1$ tomorrow', I know, but well, whatever these billions were worth before the crisis, they totally vanished in 2008 putting millions of people jobless, homeless and many of them lifeless.
"The Big Short" is an important movie with the epic ambition of Michael Moore's docs, the spellbinding editing of "JFK" and the fast-paced entertainment of "Goodfellas" except that this time, the gangsters are not arrested in the end.
Camping (2006)
French Fried Vacation of the 2000's...
From the very concept, "Camping" feels like the films marketed by a cigar-smoking producer who knows what works and what doesn't. Obviously, this isn't targeted for underground auteur theaters, it's pure French popular cinema tailor-made for a popular audience. And even the more sophisticated moviegoers, driven by a shadenfreude delight, will find good reasons to go see how slobs having fun in campsites.
My suspicion rose when the main star of the film (half the publicity) was a popular comedian who made a famous sketch about a bizarre specimen of human race: the camper, walking in thongs, swimming trunks, colorful T-shirts and occasionally on his hand a glass of Pastis or a toilet roll. The actor is Franck Dubosc as Patrick Chirac (like the President) and in the poster, he's the one inviting us to join Campsite Blue Flows and its joyful family of regulars: Claude Brasseur and Mylène Demongeot as the veterans, Mathilde Seigner and Antoine Dulery as the dysfunctional couple and a former Weatherwoman from hip French channel "Canal +" who didn't have the same career as Louise Bourgoin and, if anything besides delighting our eyes, totally dates the film.
Naturally, there will be a newcomer to discover this crazy world, and to play the outsider's role, the handsome Gérard Lanvin as a successful plastic surgeon who just bought the James Bond car and takes his teen daughter for holidays in Spain. Since he doesn't strike as the kind of man to mix up with the common people, naturally, his car beaks down in the middle of the campsite, and it'll take time to find the right part. Serves him for being such a slob, like Patrick would say "I don't drive James Bond's car but at least, I can drive mine" This is Lanvin's lesson to learn, nothing we couldn't have seen coming, but let's not be harsh because the film was actually more enjoyable than its rather predictable premise.
Actually, I was surprised to learn that the 'camper' sketch wasn't the first inspiration, which shows since none of the gags (except a few one-liners) were used in the film. It was actually rather restrained as if the director and the writer were convinced about having such well-written characters that they didn't needed an avalanche of gags to make us laugh. Take Brasseur's curmudgeon, he checks the light before taking off, when he arrives, he lightly throw his thongs and puts his feet on and checks the time. We get it, the man is a regular, and everyone is cheering when he comes. There's one problem though he didn't see coming, now that the campsite works with Internet, his reservation had a little bug, and he doesn't have the site he used to have for 30 years.
This is funny already, and an actor of Brasseur's caliber doesn't need to overdo the reaction since the material is already convincing, and all his attempts to convince the sweet Dutch couple to switch the sites will provide some good moments and a very satisfying conclusion. "Camping" works most of the time thanks to this ability to never provide the expected, although some situations are (the outsider, the infidelity within the couple) it's in the treatment that the film confines to realism and even social commentary. Lanvin finds the right balance between diplomacy and cold politeness and the actor exudes such charisma that we never really find him dislikable even though that's what the story tries to make him look like. And that's the secret of "Camping", the actors' acting contradicts the script for the film's own good. And even the editing is well-done, once you ask yourself, "by the way, what has become of this guy", bingo, the next scene features him.
I have two reservations though. First of all, I know the teen daughter serves the plot for one or two particular cases, I didn't like the fact that she never answered for the sleeping drug she put on her father's glass, but I did like the moment where he slapped her, because she insulted him in a bus, here's a cliché situation that was realistically handled by a good actor. But to match this actor, there should have been a stronger personality in that girl, and the script, instead of helping her, makes her look duller and cliché, with an obligatory (and random) romance whose only purpose is to show how out of touch Daddy is. The daughter should've been a key character, instead of a foil. The film could've done without her.
Less disposable, was the character of Patrick. Dubosc is a likable and sympathetic actor, but he overplays it as if it was an extended sketch, which isn't bad in a certain type of comedy, except when everybody is acting natural. I get it he's an entertainer, but acting wise, compared to the others, he was actually in Lanvin's shoes, not his thongs. Such an irony for a film that centered its marketing campaign on him!
As we say about night, "let's sleep on it", and holidays plays the same role with our daily problems, and a campsite can be an interesting place to question our life and try to change it for the best. It looks totally contrived, yet the merit of "Camping" is to make it feel real and warm, and it doesn't take a lot of effort to be funny. And like they say, a good story with a few laughs is always better than a meaningless thing trying too hard to make you laugh.
The same year saw the released of the third opus of the iconic "Bronzés" series, but despite its commercial success, the film was a critical flop, and one that audience quickly forgot. 10 years later, we still remember "Camping" and it also spanned a sequel, and for some reason, I think this is going to be remembered as a classic even in 10 years. Not without reasons.
Speed (1994)
The cinematic shot of adrenalin that resurrection an agonizing action movie gimmick...
The 70's had "Jaws", the 80's had "Die Hard" and the 90's had "Speed". What do all these movies have in common? An irresistible and unmistakable high concept: a uniqueness in the plot allowing other movies to be summarized by simple combinations, like "Alien" is "Jaws" in space, and "Under Siege " is "Die Hard" in a boat. It's by the way an odd coincidence that the director of "Speed", the unknown Jan de Bont was the cinematographer of "Die Hard", he sure learned in the best school.
So, "Speed" relies on a simple concept: a bus can't slow down under 50 mph, otherwise, it explodes. Let me take a few lines because the wannabe screenwriter I am can't resist to the temptation of exalting such a high-concept. I think, it's the kind of ideas that are worth at least half the work, I mean, imagine a producer being submitted such a project, how many spectacular premises does that hold? How about a traffic jam? What if a road comes to a dead end? How can the passengers leave the bus? How can they disarm the bomb? How can the villain make sure they can't take the passengers out? How will they be able to fool the villain anyway? etc. etc.
Movies based on "what if" situations are generally the best in the way they make you wonder what can happen while you're already enjoying the present action, the enjoyment is doubled, and through a bus that can't go down 50 pm, everything is meant to happen fast, to put you on a constant edge. It was a no-fail guarantee and all "Speed" had to deliver were the requirements of the action genre, and get us a memorable movie villain, Dennis Hopper is perfect as the young and maniac bomb expert Howard Payne, a cool hero, Keanu Reeves, a then relatively new face of action movies and a young Sandra Bullock who has this mixture of inner heroism and genuine fear, something our female-power driven era would deem as sexist (God I miss the 90's!).
There is also Jeff Daniels as the more experienced cop, a script full of funny archetypal one- liners, and more than anything, a terrific plot structure. "Speed" actually, could have only consisted on a bus chase and it would have worked, but it spices up the material and pushes the envelope of the action genre by introducing two other spectacular sequences, one introducing the villain, who install a bomb within the cables of an elevator and threatens to make a dozen of innocent people fall to their death, and the climax that can simply be summed up as "Speed" in a subway. I used to think that this was unnecessary, but when you think about it, "Speed" doesn't just overplay the action, it also bases itself on a simple third-act structure: introduce the villain, then the meat of the story, the heart-pounding bus ride and then the ultimate confrontation.
"Speed" is like a great shot of adrenaline revisiting what was an agonizing action movie gimmick: the obligatory car chase. It would also inspire a less successful sequel with "Speed 2; Under Control", and I think it's a bit unfair to dismiss the whole movie, it didn't work because it didn't have ambition but because the original had too much of it, so it inevitably paled by comparison. 1994 was a terrific year for movies and it's all the more fitting to have a groundbreaking movie in the action genre.
That was a quick review, but if there's one thing I learned from "Speed" is that sometimes, the faster, the better.
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
A visionary and still relevant intellectual epic...
bribes of an interesting conversation, forcing us to listen or even get involved? Well, as soon as the titular André (Grégory playing himself) talks, we're natural-born listeners. You may think it's a minimalist experimental movie about two men talking, but it's all in the talk. And thanks to Louis Malle's astute directing and André's voice and body language, the words create a whole world and make everything happen in our minds.
André, a producer, spent five years discovering the experimental theater in Poland, underground communities in Scotland and monasteries in Tibet, and finally he came back to share his experience with Wallace aka Wally, played by Wallace Shawn. And we visualize everything, the false burial, the hallucinations, the monk standing on his fingers, so despite the film's austere minimalism, what we've got her is a super-power to communicate, something on an epic level.
Next to André, there's Wally, a struggling playwright, in an era where theater is obviously declining. These two men, who don't look the same, one is elf-looking, the other is rather elegant and seductive, share the same love for theater, and certainly arts. They are also rational, literate men in their 30's/40's, and they don't have steady jobs, their revenues don't depend on physical efforts or regular wages, but on their talents that rely on inspirations, visions and other abstractions.
So both Wally and André can afford the luxury of such a conversation, but they're also committed and have material urgencies. Wally's wife (or girlfriend) must work on night to pay the bills, and André has a family. They're obviously caught between the daily urgency of life, and the eternal quest for its meaning that is so inherent to the world of Arts. Andre was found crying after watching Bergman's "Autumn Sonata" and was moved by Ingrid Bergman's confession that she couldn't only live in her Art, realizing that reality is a double-edged sword with alienating effects.
Indeed, in the real world, we all are performers, incapable to express a genuine and sincere sentiment, incapable to question our happiness, beyond all the roles that life affects to us. It's no wonder, people deserted theaters since the world has turn into something like a theater even a prison camp. But while these statements come later after a series of enumeration of André's five years of self-discovery, they could've turned the conversation into a one-sided performance if it wasn't for Wally's answer.
Wally, who struck as a rather passive and fascinated listener, defensively and nervously retorts that there's something innately scary (and no less alienating) in these so-called quests, these obligations to go climb a mountain in order to find meanings to this or that, and then renounce to a simple comfort because it's meaningless. What is extraordinary is how visionary and relevant the conversation is, as if the world was as stressful in 1981 as now, 35 years later, and I couldn't decide which one I could relate to. I was like living my recent life in a movie, and it made me realize that I'm only 4 years younger than Shawn, and I'm in a somewhat similar existential crisis.
I find this world extremely oppressive, and the Internet didn't help. Whenever I watched the news, it was always the same bullshit everywhere, the good guys vs. the bad guys, and when I click on alternate news website, I get twice angrier, angry because we never hear them, and because it might be true. I don't even know if I should cry or laugh about that whole Trump campaign and the fact that we might have a Third World War very soon, so, I promised myself to live in a bubble and never watch the news or anything that isn't fun and entertaining. I'd rather adopt the cowardly attitude of Wally, because I'm wise enough to know where I don't have the upper hand. I don't know.
"My Dinner With Andre" doesn't provide answers, but there will be hope as long as people will struggle to find any. I live in France where religion has became the Public Enemy #1, but I think it's again cold rationalism that inspired this intolerance, there's no good or bad spirituality, it's the very quest of transcendence that counts, not the result. The conversation is like those we have with our friends, when we try to solve the world's problem in one night, as long as such conversations will happen, that's enough to restore faith in humanity.
Maybe André wasn't sure either about his solutions but it's a friendship story, and it's the mark of friend to unburden himself from his own angst and frustration and allow you to get relieved for some pain you'd have, through talking and communicating. And fittingly, after the dinner, instead of the subway, Wally took the cab and rediscovered some spots that all reminded him of childhood memories. The conversation had an effect, like Saint-Exupéry (whom André often mentioned): Wally started looking with his eyes instead of living mechanically.
I can't express with the same quality of words how the film mirrored my own life. Was it a coincidence that the same day, my best friend called me, and urged to decide what to do with my life even if it had to jeopardize my marriage?
Like Wally says, just because you read something in a fortune cookie doesn't mean it was addressed to you, but then he mentions the idea of someone traveling in a plane and reading in his horoscope that he shouldn't take it, which was exactly the subject of a screenplay I wrote (!)
And André then says that it's only after envisaging the possibility of leaving his wife that he resurrected the passion, as if sometimes you need to take the risk to lose something to realize what it's worth. That night, I embraced my wife as tenderly as I could.
Creed (2015)
The come-back story that caught everyone off-guard, including the fans...
Rocky saying goodbye to a cheerful crowd in Vegas with Paulie and Robert, and then visiting Adrian's grave with an emotional "Yo Adrian, we did it!" was the perfect ending. And the father- to-son speech provided one of the most inspirational quotes of the 21st Century : "It ain't about how hard you hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward", and the perfect testimonial quote for Rocky Balboa.
So, just when we thought that Sylvester Stallone came full circle with his fetish character, Ryan Coggler, a director not even born when "Rocky IV" came out, pulled him back in the ring. Even the fans, even Sly, were perplex, so imagine those who associate him to mumbling action heroes or the Razzies' eternal punching bag. But I guess "it ain"t over till it's over" and Coggler thought there was more to do with Rocky, and he found a perfect spot to dig into: Apollo Creed, an American icon by himself and not just for the "stars and stripes" short but for his significant part to the Rocky's narrative. So fitting that he'd inspire one of the best of the series again.
The idea of an illegitimate son was very smart: a character totally independent from the previous material yet deeply rooted in it. So the film wasn't (another) sequel, it was a spin-off, a first curiosity-grabbing nuance. And "Creed"'s interest never diminished ever since the talk started. And before Thanksgiving (40 years after the fictional start of the series), something magical happened: the words 'Stallone' and 'Oscar' were mentioned in the same titles, and it wasn't about the 1991 movie, and the 'Awards' referred to hadn't 'Razzie' written before. No one saw that coming. But after the first rave reviews, I was on an edge, nervously following the awards nominations and wins until the Oscar one, a huge victory by itself.
And this is a richly deserved nomination, so is the Golden Globe win, definitely not a veteran making his come-back in a year driven by a wave of 70's nostalgia (with "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"), this is a rich and heartfelt performance that hits a sensitive chord whether you love the series or not. Even as a fan of Rocky Balboa, I forgot how gentle and sweet he is, beyond the whole underdog appeal. His innocence made him such an enduring and endearing character, sticking to his philosophy of life, no matter how bad the news are, and even the mistakes he makes are forgivable because made out of well-meaning intentions.
The one mistake he made was not to stop Apollo during the Drago match, but he respected Apollo's stubbornness. So, when Creed's son insists on having him as a coach, Rocky sees that the boy is hungry. I know I make it sound as if it was a Stallone film (which it is, after all) but the merit goes to Michael B. Jordan who plays Adonis Creed with such confidence that we don't necessarily root for him at the start, he has a sort of cocky arrogance which is the trademark of his father (and the cause of his demise) yet his eyes betray some vulnerability begging to be vented sometime. When he finally lets it out, we understand the pain Creed's illegitimate son went through.
This is the irony of living in the shadow of a reputation, same problem for Rocky's son except that Adonis inherited the same gift and passion. His name is both a blessing and a burden, and it's up to him to find the right balance. His goal is honorable: to make a name by himself by earning each cheer without "Creed" playing a part of it, but who's he kidding? Isn't he having Rocky Balboa as a coach? He's a mountain of contradictions, which is the mark of complex and appealing characters. And his partnership with Rocky inevitably reminds of the fatherly friendship between Rocky and Mickey. Coincidentally, Stallone is nominated for playing Mickey's role, and by being nominated a second time for the same character, Stallone joins an 'elite Oscar' club counting such prestigious names as Pacino, Blanchett, Crosby, Newman and O'Toole.
Oscar trivia put aside, this proves Rocky doesn't belong to Stallone anymore, his legacy is bigger than that for 40 years, not a single decade didn't have a "Rocky", it started with the gritty post-Nixon 70's, then the flamboyant Reagan era, the low-key 90's, 2000's and now technological 2010's, with a new generation of actors: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson. The series has a timeless appeal and always has something to offer, if only, a powerful emotional performance that took everyone off-guard. Whether he wins or loses, Stallone has already gone the distance, embracing, once again, the spirit of his creation. He might have done his share of stinkers, but hey, who can claim to have created a cinematic icon?.
As for the film, If not totally flawless, and not deprived from one or two awkward or a little over-stylized moments, the emotionality is intact, And Rocky's spirit is there. And Stallone is as emotional as in "Rocky Balboa'", but in a more restrained and subtle manner, you could tell Sly let himself being directed for the first time, for playing his 'baby' character, and it's truly a new Stallone that shines on screen. Jordan, Thomson and Philycia Rashad, who plays Mary Ann Creed, were so great, I'm looking forward to seeing them in other projects.
Should that be "Creed II"? Should they push their luck? Should Sly retire now in a blaze of glory? I sincerely don't know, there are many plot points left unsolved and that can work as a great material for a sequel
but for the moment, let's just appreciate the great achievement "Creed" is, and how it doubled the excitement of the Awards season by including the ultimate underdog actor, Sylvester Stallone.
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
The fun of "Tootsie" with the poignancy of "Kramer vs. Kramer"... and Robin Williams in his most defining role, laughs-wise and tears-wise...
Looking at the American Film Institute's list of Top 100 funniest movies, you'll notice that the first one is "Some Like it Hot" and the second is "Tootsie". No need to be a movie expert to know what the two classics have in common. Men dressed as women is probably one of the oldest, and curiously underused, comedic gimmicks, it's an awkward intrusion into the forbidden world, carrying a strange mixture of voyeurism and self-questioning, something capturing both the privilege and the curse of being a woman, which also teaches one lesson or two about being a man. You can make it with laughs, with tenderness, and sometimes with poignant drama.
Chris Columbus' 1993 comedy hit, "Mrs. Doubtfire" belongs to this cross- gender movie traditions, and is rightfully listed at the 67th position in AFI's list. And while it didn't reinvent the wheel on the comedic field, the film bears a strong resemblance with dramas such as "Kramer vs. Kramer". It seems obvious since it deals with divorce, but there's more into it: Roger Ebert criticized the film for being another showcase of Williams' imitation talent, and while it worked for "Aladdin", it failed flat in this film. His mistake, in my opinion, was to misjudge the audience's expectations, it wasn't to see a man dressed in drag, but to see Robin Williams be that man, not because Williams would give another dimension to the film (kids and their parents didn't know he went through divorce) but because Williams was a popular family-appealing actor and his role as Daniel Hillard embodied his personality: a man raunchy enough to appeal to dads, tender enough to have this awe-factor with mothers, and any mimics, or voice bits would appeal to the kids. Hillard is probably the closest character to Williams.
Indeed, Williams can overplay his eccentric facets like Lemmon in 1959 but he can also break your heart when he mentions his kids, or when he whispers something to his youngest daughter. And as "Tootsie" dealt with unemployment and gender battle, "Mrs. Doubtfire" is a movie about divorce that shows to which desperate extremes a father can be pushed to, in order to keep seeing his kids. I don't understand how Ebert could overlook this aspect. That's to say, the film has both the laughs and the heart, and while it would be a stretch to say that all the gags work (on that level, some bits are more predictable than others), "Doubtfire" is something more than a movie about a disguised Williams. And it's a good reminder of a time where a good old- fashioned comedy could win at the box-office.
So, the story is about a family that goes through the harsh experience of divorce, a time where enough is enough and a husband a wife realize they're going through different directions. The set-up is a bit awkward as it leaves us wondering why this successful businesswoman, Miranda, played by Sally Field married this goof-ball voice-actor with the energy and the temper of a teen. When a man celebrates his son's thirteenth birthday by organizing a whole zoo party and dance on a table, you gotta wonder why he didn't expect it would upset his wife, they were really totally different. What follows is a poignant argument where Miranda finally asks for divorce and it doesn't come as a surprise that she gets the custody. I don't even think the kids were surprised.
Hillard can only see his children on weekends, which is not enough obviously, he's got three months to prove the judge he's capable to take care of himself, hence the kids, and one way leading to another, he works in a TV station, as a janitor (it seems a bit contrived that all of a sudden, he couldn't find something on the entertainment field) and when he learns that the mother is about to hire a nurse, well, he goes to his makeup expert brother (Harvey Fiernstein) and asks if he can turn him into a woman. I guess the next scene probably upset Ebert as it was another montage of Williams' imitation talent (that and the first interview) but while it was out of place in a movie like "Dead Poets Society", it seemed natural that Williams' character would do such things.
(If there's one point this review is trying to make by the way is that, once you get that Hillard is Robin Williams' alter-ego, you start watching the movie with different eyes.)
So, Hillard becomes Mrs. Doubtfire and if things don't go quite well at start, he quickly impresses Miranda, and he surprisingly turns into a better father model than as he was a man, which echoes the "Tootsie" situation: sometimes, it takes to be like the mother to know the father's job. The movie escalates from comedic situations to another, I have a soft spot for the flirtatious bus driver, and the little roasting poor rival Lou (Pierce Brosnan in his dashing pre- Bond years) has to take from a jealous old hag. And the hilarity pinnacles with two simultaneous restaurant dates, including one that has Hillard's professional future at stakes. Well, it's easy to figure where it goes, but we follow Hillard's troubles with excitement and fun.
The resolution the film offers is sweet and balanced, like in "Kramer vs. Kramer", it's something that appease the minds and allows us to understand both parts. The emotional outcome of the film is to remind us that Robin Williams went through divorce and didn't have to act, while it was to do these voices number that irritated Ebert or when he talked about the divorce. And looking at the film after William's untimely passing, makes it impossible to watch, without shedding a nostalgic tear. God I miss the 90's, and I miss Robin Williams
Léon (1994)
A killer as a guardian angel, a cop as the devil and a little girl's soul in jeopardy...
Luc Besson became the 'it' director ever since he dust French cinema with his 1985 "Subway", embracing the 80's as if it was a new millennium, a time where French movies could look American without it being an overused gimmick. And on that level, "La Femme Nikita" was his most American-looking film, using archetypes that were even fresh for American audience, interestingly, one of them, from the 1990 hit "Nikita", would directly inspire his most critically acclaimed movies.
Jean Reno played Victor, the cleaner, a hit-man whose specialty was to kill and get rid of bodies through acid. There was something absolutely fascinating in that scene-stealing character, cutting into the grittiness with a cool naturalness that made us wish he could last longer. I guess Besson felt there was a potential for such a character, A hit-man who shoots, hides behind doors, ducks and throws grenades, who can take two, three men and all of this, fitted Besson's predilection for fast-paced action, plural shots and overuse of traveling and zooming and so on. And what a challenge in terms of characterization!
Somehow I like the English title even more than plain "Leon" (though "Le Professional" was already a classic starring Belmondo). It truly defines Leon, a pro. But he's also a man a bit slow, who drinks milk, takes care of a plant, and loves Gene Kelly. These attributions might feel phony or gratuitous, but they have a point. Reno deliberately made Leon a bit slow and innocent, in order to decrease the tension during the intimidate scenes between him and Mathilda. He knew, if the professional was as vicious in real life as in his job, it would have ruined the movie. So, he played it as someone who'd be in the mindset of a boy in his fifties.
And on the other side, you have Mathilda, a 12-year old pre-teen, who's seen more than the average kids, she's totally disillusioned, wasted and abandoned in a dysfunctional whose only valuable member is her little brother. Mathilda smokes, sighs, meditates a lot, she exudes the crappiness of life in her words and eyes that betray an inconsolable sadness. When she first meets Leon, she asks him if life is the same for adults, Leon has no encouraging answer. Mathilda is at the messiest time of her life, and somewhere, fate with the hand of a corrupt officer, named Stansfield and played by Gary Oldman, puts Mathilda under the protection of Leon, becoming the closest thing to a friend.
And before Mathilda, the only friend Leon had (besides the plant) was a "mission-giver" played by Danny Aiello, became a sort of father-model for Leon ever since he came to the USA (hence 'ze' accent). It was time for Leon to turn into a fatherly figure himself. And "The Professional" becomes a wonderful coming-of-age story for both Leon and Mathilda, but to think that it's made with violence and sniper lessons as a backdrop makes the whole experience all the more excitingly disturbing. Contrasts make movies, and "Leon the Professional" shines with its contrasts.
Mathilda is incredibly responsive to Leon's lessons and shows the same interest and curiosity a child would under these circumstances. Leon's action can seem irresponsible, but he's not even capable to answer for himself, he sees himself as the only possible person to provide Mathilda what she needs the most: order and a constructive routine, a reason to be, something to enjoy and affection I guess this is where the trouble starts. Mathilda admits she feels something weird in her guts, she sees Leon as a sort of Oedipal father, there's a weird mix of fascination and attraction. Leon is not interested, as he doesn't even have sexuality in the first place. The plant and the milk gives him an odd purity that prevented the film to shock viewers. Simple, but powerful symbolism!
There's something in Natalie Portman that reminds of another child performance from the same year, Kirsten Dunst in "Interview of the Vampire", both are girls who've grown up fast, and have the look of adults. And when Mathilda sort of gives 'herself' as if she was ready to lose an innocence, it's the cruel admission that she had already lost it, I can understand why this line was cut, but I disapprove, because it all depends on Leon's reaction, and nothing he says hints an interest. The material is rather touchy but it's the reverse side of what made the story works, the man teaching a girl how to be a sniper and the girl playing a "guess" game with him. When Mathilda plays "Like a Virgin", it never feels controversial, she's like a teen playing and Leon looks even more childish.
It's only when she confronts Stansfield again that she realizes it's not a game, and that indeed some people can be really creepy. "Do you love life?" he asks. She nods, "Good because I have no pleasure taking it out from someone who doesn't care". Why is the cop so creepily violent? We never know, there are things that are better left unexplained, it's part of this weird emotional experience, where a hit-man is like a guardian angel, and a civil guardian angel a devil, and in this urban chaos, a little girl is lost. Besson might have been perceived as the American French director, he injected European cinema in an American movie and this is why it fascinates so much.
It is a love story of some sort, but about a true and tender father-daughter love, it's also a coming of age, an action film, a neo-noir, all of this carried by a wonderful acting trio. And if you look at it without thinking too much of the whole killing and shooting, the film might strike a very sensitive chord, and, it's one of the best of 1994, which is saying a lot.
Tais-toi! (2003)
Reno as the man-who-doesn't-talk and Depardieu as the-man-who-can't-stop-talking...
Some people are like sticking plasters, just when you think you finally got rid of them, they strike back. And they can't stop talking, oblivious to the fact that it takes two people to make a discussion. Ultimately, you just want to grab them on both sides of the face and yell "Shut up!" Francis Veber couldn't find a better title for his crime-comedy, and a better actor than Gérard Depardieu to play Quentin, the quintessential pain-in-the-neck.
With that film, Veber comes full circle as his first writing credit, was the classic "L'Emmerdeur" (literally, the pain-in-the-neck) another buddy-movie reuniting a hardened no-nonsense gangster played by Lino Ventura, and Belgian singer Jacques Brel, portraying a suicidal loser. Veber never really abandoned that formula which revealed itself an astonishing source of fun and original comedies, notably the 80's trilogy with goofy-looking Pierre Richard and younger and tough-looking Gérard Depardieu, and his greatest success "The Dinner of Schmucks".
Yet, in "Shut up!", roles are reversed, Depardieu is the schmuck, a more straight-forward one, and as the tough guy, the only actor who could look more intimidating than Depardieu, Jean Reno, in a sort of Leon-like character, but with the brain. Still, the premise didn't really attract me at first, I thought it would be a reboot of the usual formula, but Veber proved that he was like a cook capable of making different dishes from the same ingredients. And the first surprise is that Depardieu doesn't have the usual loser's name: François Perrin or Pignon, he's Quentin, from Montargis.
The fact that he introduces himself by adding "from Montargis" is not hazardous, and already gives a hint of how subtly hilarious the character is. For one thing, who the hell cares? But we do care, and there's a neat pay-off for that little detail near the end. And if not, in the same vein than "Bond. James Bond" or "Forrest, Forrest Gump", the mark of a great character sometimes lies in the way he introduces himself. And when you look at this lovable big guy, with his smile and that hair cut as he put his finger in a power plant, you wonder how he ended up being a criminal.
First, Quentin isn't cut for robbing banks as he gets them mixed up with exchange offices, and when he hides in a cinema, he simply sits and enjoys "Ice Age" and keeps watching the screen while the cops arrest him. In jail, it's only a matter of minutes before he drives his cell mates crazy. But the trick of comedy is to surprise you. And Veber, a master of economy and hilarious ellipses, knows that. At the end, the cell mates are on stretchers, so we know all we need to know about Quentin, he's cheerful, dim-witted and extraordinarily strong. But he's not mad.
The psychiatrist is positive: Quentin is just stupid. The warden almost begs him to keep him in the asylum, but the doctor replies "I run a mad house, not a stupid house" and adds "imagine the size of the building if " And you can tell that André Dussolier is really trying to keep a straight face, while delivering this hilarious line, and I'm pretty sure the wasn't the only one in this film. There are two long minutes where Depardieu put in the cell of Ruby (Reno's character), just talks and talks. Reno doesn't blink an eye. He makes a horse sound no snap. If Depardieu's performance is extraordinary, Reno deserves a mention if only for having kept this 'straight' face, so to speak.
The set-up to Ruby's incarceration is another masterstroke of economical and efficient storytelling. Ruby works for Vogel (Jean-Pierre Malo as a nasty-looking mob boss) and has an affair with his protégée. The girl is killed. Vogel's men attack an armored car. The surviving ones take the money but then Ruby neutralizes them. After an abrupt ellipse where Ruby is suddenly in cell, the Chief of Police (Richard Berry) confront him and we all get the picture To avenge the girl, Ruby stole Vogel's money. Vogel needs to know where he hid the loot, and so do the cops. And Ruby wants Vogel's head.
It all comes down to Ruby refusing to talk. The Chief calls the bluff and knows Ruby is onto something, so he comes up with a great idea, how about putting the man who never talks with the man who always talks. And this is where I have a little fondness on the English title, "Ruby and Quentin" because the film is less about Quentin's annoyances than the touching duo he forms with Ruby. Surely, we don't want Quentin to "shut up!" because he embarks to one a hell of a ride, starting with an escape you won't see coming (honorable mention to Ticky Holgado in one of his last roles).
Then the cat-and-mouse chase includes so many switches of cars (including Police cars), so many changes of clothes, (one of them involves the visit to a jockey's house, but I won't spoil the punch line to you) and so many knock-outs that you'll easily lose track at the end. It's spell- binding comedy at its best, with Veber's well-oiled screen writing and the inevitable human touch, without which, everything would be a series of predictable gimmicks.
Ruby never gets over-the-top or hysterical he tries to understand Quentin's behavior as if a man that dumb couldn't be for real, there had to be a reason. Well, Quentin had a good reason, he wanted to be Ruby's friend and together, they would have opened a café, named "The Two Friends". You know the only way to end the film is when Ruby will stop finding this ludicrous.
And the film finds the perfect note to end with, a shot that says everything. Most of all that Quentin wasn't a loser. If one thing, he won our hearts.