Les Boys III

Back home from France after three years, Stan finds his bar/restaurant and the long-standing friendship among the players of his amateur hockey team, Les Boys, threatened by the owner of a new fancy sports bar with a hidden motivation. The story doesn't bear close scrutiny, but this is an entertaining film with many funny moments and likeable characters. Mostly appealing to Québec audiences, I guess, who are willing to overlook the sillier aspects in order to see local culture, language and stars on the big screen. I would be curious to find out how other people would see it.

The Boys are back at it! The first one was funny, the second one was o.k., the third one is a little bit less enjoyable. And this one is way too long: 124 minutes. This is a movie that shouldn't go over 100 minutes.

But the acting is still good, and the Boys are funny. Patrick Huard especially, but also Paul Houde, Marc Messier, Éric Lapointe, Yvan Ponton and Pierre Lebeau.

Two singers have a role in this one: Éric Lapointe and France D'Amour. The soundtrack is excellent with great hits from Québec.

The movie actually contain more emotions than the first two, which is good. Except that the director seemed to forgot sometimes that he's making a slapstick comedy. Maybe that explains the exaggerated running time.

Out of 100, I gave it 71. That's good for ** out of **** stars.

Seen in Toronto, at the Canada Square Famous Players Cinemas, during the French-films festival Cinéfranco, on April 10th, 2002.

Through the years I saw all three of the "Les boys" movies. Just like most sequels, Les boys II was not so good. But this third film (and apparently the last) was the best of all three movies. As far as I am concerned, the side stories add a more personal and intimate touch about some characters in the film, even touching at times.

The music was very good and the idea of inserting some recent pop hits was very good, just like in "Moulin Rouge". Finally, for the actors, they were all good but Patrick Huard and Marc Messier were both excellent. This is a definitely a film to be recommended.