L'enquête corse

I watched this movie last night and loved it.

From the opening scene where the caricatured bumbling mainland police are foiled by the caricatured independantist locals, I was laughing my head off.

Remi the private detective from Paris is hired on a commercial matter to go to Corsica to find Ange Leoni, the independantist who happens to be on the run from police.

Many farcical scenes ensue as Remi comes up against a closed culture while Ange plays cat and mouse with the police. Meanwhile rival gangs of independantists and rival judicial organisations all vie with each other for influence and control over events with mostly ridiculous results.

I've never been to Corsica, but if you've ever read "Asterix in Corsica", you will understand what all the jokes are about, although I doubt this movie would be anywhere near as much fun with subtitles.

The deliberately thick patois at the start is only there for colour - the rest of the movie is in lightly southern-accented French.

Christian Clavier does well when he plays a normal guy and his character works. Jack Palmer (Remi François) is about as straight and narrow as they come. He's good at his job and he doesn't get too distracted. The opening sequence does well to establish his character. He gets pulled into the criminal world of Corsica as he searches for Ange Leoni to let him know about a 2 million euro inheritance.

Catherine Munro is Gorgeous. I couldn't take my eyes off of her for the whole film. She plays Lea, the sister of Agne Leoni (played by Jean Reno). Lea is a smart and beautiful woman who takes a liking to Remi and that doesn't bode well for Ange. As Remi and Lea become closer, Ange becomes more upset and pulls Remi further into the Corsica lifestyle. It's got some good humor and beautiful scenery.

But it falls apart. Some of the jokes and editing don't work for the story. The acting, as far as I can tell, is decent. It's just not as good as it could be. There's something about the flow of scenes that falls short and it doesn't pay off in most scenes. In the end, you would do well to enjoy the scenery (I'm talking Catherine Munro), but you wouldn't be missing much if you didn't watch the whole film.

It's quite simple: It's almost impossible for foreigners to understand what's going on in this movie. You have to understand that this movie is based on a famous french comic-book. Therefore the jokes are exaggerated and - without any exception - all characters fit into well-known French/Corsican clichés. It's definitely not a big movie - but for Frenchmen (or people living in France, like me) it's at least very amusing. The Corsican landscape is pretty well filmed. Some of the scenes are indeed very stupid and without any logic - but please remember the comic book background. Reno and Clavier are o.k., but the real sensation is the incredibly beautiful leading lady (Ange Leoni's sister) - she is just worth looking this picture.

I saw this movie for the first time last night, and absolutely laughed my head off! I am an American who does speak French, so I don't know what laughs might be "lost in translation" for some non-francophones, but, the sheer comical situations, personalities, and facial expressions, I think are hilarious in any language. The added treat is the extremely lovely settings, indoor and outdoor, where the film takes place. Now I feel I must see Corsica at least once in my lifetime.

Unlike many French films, which are so often self-conscious, unimaginative, and non-spontaneous, "L'enquête corse" is totally spontaneous and refreshing. It delivers!

The awesome duo, who brought the "Visitors" to the stratospheric level of cult classic of the French cinema, is teaming up again for a pleasant Corsican comedy. However, it does not reach the level of the medieval and temporal epic, nor that of "Welcome to the Sticks" in the same kind of genre.