When a film
has got 57 on Metacritic and 8.6 on Imdb, you know there is some serious
disagreement between critics and audiences. However that this film has received
such a mediocre rating from critics is beyond me. This French comedy-drama is
one of the best films of the year.
Now the
true story the film tells might not be the most original story, which seems to
be all that matters for a lot of critics, but it is nearly flawless in its
execution. A film doesn’t always need to have an original plot; it can even
have a slightly overused plot, but the execution is what really matters.
The two
lead performances in the film are terrific. Omar Sy as Driss, manages to be one
of the most charming characters ever on screen, yet he makes it believable that
he still is a criminal of sorts, something that is vital to understand. The
movie would no at all work if Driss weren’t as charming as he is, but we still
have to believe that despite his charm he is a troubled person, and Sy balances
it perfectly. The role of Driss is very easily overacted, but he never went
over the top and he always stayed true to his character, even though the
development he was given did leap a bit too much at a point. Cluzet, who plays Philippe,
a wealthy quadriplegic, plays the role beautifully. Not only is
he charming like Driss, but his role is a massive psychical challenge and I
felt like he did it perfectly. I always like it when actors don’t go all out in
emotional scenes, because usually it just feels like it is too much, but the
emotional scenes were handled really well by Cluzet.
The film has one of the best uses of in medias res I
have seen in a film in quite some time. The scene we are shown at the beginning
seems odd and just like something to set up the characters, but when we see it
again near the end it becomes one of the most emotionally charged scenes in the
movie and it was so incredibly powerful, even though there were no tears or
anything, but what happened with the characters in this scene just had such a
huge emotional impact and was done so incredibly well. Even though I am
praising the emotional scenes, it has to be said that this is also one of the
funniest films of the year; it is absolutely hilarious. What was more
impressive is how well the drama and comedy blended, when I think dramatic
comedies, there is always that moment where it goes from being a comedy to a
drama and the tone changes and the pace slows down, often leaving the viewer a
bit bored for five minutes or so before adjusting, however this film never hit
that speed bump, even when it got dramatic. I was impressed with how consistent
the tone managed to stay, which is really a great job by the directors.
The film is a true feel-good film, filled with laughs
and emotion, fuelled by brilliant performances. Despite some minor complaints
about some character development feeling a tad bit too much, there is little
too complain about with this hilarious French crowd-pleaser.
4.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment