Les grands sentiments font les bons gueuletons

A charming comedy, interesting, today, especially for cast.

Two families in a blockhouse. One losting the mother of husband, the other prepairing the wedding of daughter. A chain of absurd accidents, conflicts, missunderstandings, large islands of loneliness and efforts to save the apparences.

The talk in cellar between the fathers of two families represents the best part of this film exploring, in nice manner, familiar situations of everyday.

A seductive puzzle, especially for Gabrielle Dourcet as Yvette and for the innocent man in wheelchair.

And, sure, for the bitterness covered by gags , for well use of dark humor , for the atmosphere of the two events and for the drops of nostalgia, from clothes to furniture, about a lost time.

Plot : Two families live on the same landing of an apartment building .Mr Reverson's daughter is getting married and it is cause for celebration .Mr Armand's mom has just died in a car crash and her funeral takes place the same day as the wedding. But nothing happens as planned :half of the guests of the wedding are lost on the highway whilst the mourners,during the meal ,have to listen to cousin Yvette who ,pretending to sadly miss her late sister , has words full of venom against her and her son.

"Finer feelings make good blowouts " is a very funny comedy,full of gags ,puns and black humor , but it is a dark irony ; these people , guests or mourners ,look a lot like us and the director never despises them ;much to the viewer's surprise ,earnest thespians such Michel Bouquet and Michael Lonsdale are extremely at ease in the comic field ; Jean Carmet ,on the other hand , was one of the best comic actors in France ,with his hangdog looks and his stupefied face , always overtaken by events, he rises to the occasion too ; the second half,however ,belongs to Gabrielle Doulcet ,the spiteful old lady everybody knows,the kind of character Etienne Chatiliez would use in his "Tatie Danielle" .

Often riotously funny , this bittersweet comedy is to be recommended .