Der kleine Nick

I didn't watch lots of movies, but this is the sweetest movie I've ever seen. The whole story is about love among parents and kids, teachers and kids, and love between kids, parents, friends. It touches the tenderest part of my heart.

Every kid should be decently raised up that way. Your parents love you, but won't spoil you. Your teacher care about you, but won't push you too hard. Your friends support you, though sometimes they envy you, you always cover each others' ass, and have fun together no matter how stupid it looks like.

Despite the setting is in an old France that I don't know much about, the story would fits in any period of human history (except for war times). The sweet love, awkward moments, unnecessary worries, war between teachers and students together composed a harmonious symphony.

In a suburb in France, the boy Nicolas (Maxime Godart) does not know what he wants to be when he grows up since he is very happy with his mother (Valérie Lemercier), his father (Kad Merad) and his schoolmates. When his friend Joachim has a baby brother, Joachim tells to the other boys that his father had become very gentle with his mother. Then Joachim vanishes from school. Nicolas partially overhears the conversation of his parents about a dinner party for his father's boss and he misunderstands, believing that his mother is pregnant and his parents want to get rid of him. Nicolas tells his friends and they decide to hire a gangster to vanish with the baby, But they need to raise the money first.

"Le Petit Nicolas" is a delightful and refreshing entertainment, with a gang that recalls the characters of Quino's Mafalda without the political jokes. I have laughed a lot, but the dinner party and the visit of the minister of education to the class are among the funniest moments of this original comedy of errors. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Pequeno Nicolau" ("The Little Nicolau")

I love the "Petit Nicholas" books and René Goscinny is a personal god of mine, so I was very sceptical about this film. Especially because it's not "real-life" rather than a cartoon, whereas Jean-Jacques Sempés illustrations were essential to the charme of the books. But then the reviews were good and I gave it a try.

If you look at Goscinny's humour, it's almost reactionary. There's the fat guy, the rich kid, the dimwit, the four-eyed squealer, the easily- ired father, the just-a-housewife mother. And they all translate well onto film. Goscinny's humour stems from letting those characters interact predictably but creatively and with perfect timing, and this movie's makers managed to closely reproduce Goscinny's genius.

It's funny and escapist -- nothing more. Childhood as it should be. Sempé himself said that he created the childhood for little Nick he never had for himself.

French people might understandably be disappointed by a theatrical adaptation of the beloved Petit Nicolas, a character so familiar from their childhoods, but as one who was never mesmerized by the original form of these character, I did not go into this with expectations.

But it's a fun little ride. The costumes, the décor and the acting are all impeccable--Valérie Lemercier is especially delightful. So, too, is the writing: the story is predictable, tidy, socially non-offensive and slightly fantastical--but self-consciously so. It is a tribute to and a mild, good-natured parody of 1950's aesthetic and moral values in filmmaking, and it works very well. Most contemporary period films delight in opening up the curtains on the skeletons of what they see as "repressed" past societies and in poisoning our sentimental collective memories with gritty filth (see « 8 femmes » for an excellent French example; "Titanic" for a classic Anglo-American textbook example).

« Le petit Nicolas » is just here to remind us of what we were once supposed to try for--and it makes us wonder if it wasn't in some ways better than what we have ended up with... without, of course, being too moralizing. It makes for a good little weekday evening pick-me-up.

Before I saw this movie I was strongly skeptical.

First of all "Nicholas" while being one of top 10 children books ever made... Have no storyline. It's just series of very funny but very short stories center around a group little French boys. There's no adventures or perils – just amusing anecdotes from every day life of Nicholas and his friends.

Second of all the books was written by Rene Goscinny. A French author most know for his comic books "Asterix" and "Lucky Luke". While those are some of the most delightful peaces of graphic novels I ever read I sadly must admit they where butchered during the last decades with some horrible, horrible adaptations (with few exceptions, second Asterix movie was pretty good) "Nicholas" being a hard material to adapt already felt like a bad idea, and the fact so many of Goscinny's work was made into terrible movies wasn't a sing they will treat it with a proper respect. To be honest making "Nicholas" into a movie felt like going pretty low to get some money from his creation. When I was a kid I dreamed of Asterix being made into a movie even back there Nicholas felt like a absurd idea.

The third reason I know it won't work was the fact it was a children movie. Obviously it wouldn't work in any different way but the fact is Nicholas stories never had morals or life lessons. In fact stories where pretty cynical. A lot of humor came from the fact that Nicholas pals would get into fist fights very quickly. The kids would call each other names all the time and Nicholas parents would fight and argue all the time. It was part of the charm, however we live now in the age of Political correctness so I was sure they will tone down the violence, make it more sugary sweet/cute and ad some morals…

To my big surprise… Non of those problems appear in the movie! The script makes a excellent combination of different Nicholas stories and stay true to the characters and their personalities and in fact spends a lot of time playing with the character and their personalities. I like this type of movies as you never feels the plot rushing you just enjoy the ride and individual time spent with each character. The humor is great. It uses a lot of lines from the book but ads a lot of jokes… and I must say It actually gets pretty dark at moments. I don't got to much into detail since some of the biggest laugh-out-loud jokes come from the black humor. The kids actor where fantastic and where cast very well reflecting different personalities from the book. There is even a sequence which is a homage to Goscinny's other work (Asterix) as well a cute paper-cut-out opening sequence which is a tribute to Sempe – the illustrator. In a way it was very much like the book. Just collection of small anecdotes but tide into a larger story at the same time which build up to a terrific and incredible funny punch line. The ending is in fact very sweet and heath worming without being off-character for the series.

My only complains are total nitpicks. Some characters where completely different (fiscally) that the way I imagine them in the books (especially Nicholas parents) but the actors manage to make them work in their own way. Few characters (girl that's Nicholas love interest or the next door neighbor) felt to be forced into the script just because "they where in the books" and their scenes serve no purpos other then showing those characters for the fans. There was maybe one or two gags that where completely off-character for the series as well few small moments that don't make sense in any translation out-side of France.

Overall It's surprisingly fun movie both adults and kids will enjoy. One of best adaptations of Goscinny's works!