Mikro & Sprit

Microbe & Gasoline (French: Microbe et Gasoil) (2015) Director: Michel Gondry Watched: April 2018 6/10

{Clue: The very best part of this film}

Here we are with another Gondry,

Outstanding performances from the two young protagonists: Daniel named for his effeminacy and Theo named for his mechanical tendencies,

Unexpectedly funny scenes like the lonely dentist and wife that try to keep them, Theo's art gallery theatrics, and Daniel trying to get a haircut at a whorehouse,

Straightforward film for Gondry- not nearly as extravagant nor surreal as most of his others,

Except for the contraption that gets them around- charming with its recycled parts like a headboard and dryer door, complete with rear and side view mirrors and some geraniums.

Coming-of-age/romantic comedy/road trip film,

A tribute to unabashedly being you: "Let's face it. We're not exactly normal: you the hopeless romantic and me the grease monkey,"

Really fun despite slow parts, but ending lacks closure or meaning.

Acrostic is a form of poetry where the first letters in each line, paragraph, or word are doubly used to spell a name, phrase, or word. The word "acrostic" comes from the Greek words "akros" (outermost) and "stichos" (line of verse). Read the appropriate letters in the poem vertically to reveal the extra message, called the "acrostich"! #Acrostic #PoemReview #Gondry #RoadTrip

This is a movie that always feels cute, but it is wacky enough to avoid being cloying at any time. There's at least a small sense of adventure, and the two leads are pretty terrific as actors, particularly the Microbe. There is nothing profound here, but it is a lot of fun.

This movie feels a lot like Gondry channels his youth here. He may not have experienced everything that is depicted here and maybe only dreamed of certain things, but it really feels like a kids movie. Well apart from an adult drawing (a naked woman, genitals and all) that is. And while some may feel that it was unnecessary to put this in (no pun intended) the movie is also about sexuality and what "little boys" feel and their incapability to express certain things.

There's also a self pleasuring scene, so before you go ahead and show this to your kids and then blame IMDb, me or someone else because of the stuff this has and your moral standards being different than the ones Gondry and the producers have, think twice. Just a fair warning. But if you embark on this ride, it will be a pleasure (again no pun intended). It may not be his best movie, but it could be one of his most personal ones ...

Sorry for my bad English. I wanted to write in Portuguese only to show the scope of this incredible film of Michel Gondry. At least the films co-produced by France I have been watching, seeking simplicity to tell a simpler story of characters that easily identify. This is the case here, too. Forget Gondry full of tricks is in The Science Of Sleep or Mood Indigo. Gondry just want us to know two amazing figures and this plays attention entirely on them. Sure, it's Michel Gondry. Their follies are there too. Whether in an airplane landing gear aft or own "car home," but still holding on is Theo, is Daniel. It's an honest story - honest conversations, honest performances - which depicts a phase of our lives that we should not tarnish what we're building inside of us. It is without doubt the best Gondry script. The dialogs are an amazing naturalness; well placed jokes, drama in some extent anyway. It's about life, but not at any time try to understand it, but I went with it with all the questions we encounter along the way. I hope the next Michel Gondry's work is so personal and sincere as this road movie. I even love the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or The Science of Sleep, I think this idea so simple has captivated me more than I can imagine. Even Gondry understood the need to be simple, because maybe that's what it's about life. The simplicity of a friendship.

In their original context new French movies seem to be better than the ones that show up in the Australian multiplexes. It will be interesting to see if this one, LOVE or LE TOUT NOUVEAU TESTAMENT make it here.

M&G is an agreeable departure. The disaffected school boy chums build a car out of junk scrap metal and are disappointed that they can't register it but they still hit the road, disguising it as a timber shack - great moment of the vehicle we thought was a write-off rolling to the rescue in a cloud of smoke.

The switch to a serious ending helps the piece stay in the memory.

Audrey Tatou has a minor part to further disorient the viewers.