Francois-5

Someone set out to make a mix between Dead Poets Society and Les choristes, both outstanding movies. While the initial half hour is a nice beginning, the script gradually becomes a smorgasbord of sentimental clichés: Hollywood at its very worst. A festival of tear jerkers. I shall not describe them, since it would disclose the plot, but mostly because there are so many of them.

Furthermore, while this is not meant to be a documentary, a little bit of likelihood would not hurt. The "field trip" arranged by Mr. Hunham, the teacher who is designated to take care of the students left behind for the holidays, is far-fetched to the point of being grotesque. Paul Giamatti demonstrates outstanding talent by making his character more than a disastrous pastiche.

This could have been an excellent movie. It failed. The story of an investor who manipulates stock prices simply by generating hype over an otherwise bland company is worthy of a film, especially in this era where influencers seem to have deprived the public of much of their common sense. However, presenting such a story requires subtlety, and explanations of the economic forces in presence. Here, the script assumes that viewers will conclude that there was something not too legit going on but lacks an explanation of the game.

The swift rhythm of short scenes depicting investors, tycoons and other characters lends energy to the film, but perhaps a bit too much. But the worst part is the sound editing. The characters mumble constantly, to the point where half the dialogues are lost. A persistent music background does not help either.

So while the story that we are guessing as the movie goes on is quite interesting, the storytelling fails miserably. It looked like a low-budget, non-nudie version of The Wolf of Wall Street, an awful movie of a decade ago.

On the one hand, the acting was flawless, the camera work was first-rate, the rhythm was impeccable. But the plot reminded me of marshmallow covered in whipped cream, with a bubble gum flavouring. The songs were barely more substantial than elevator music. A love affair that can be predicted from the very beginning of the movie, and that was enhanced by several scenes reproducing the what the characters were imagining. The only thing that was not overly sweet was the very heavy Irish accent: I must have lost half of the dialogues. The plot reminded me of Mr. Holland's Opus, which I hated. Fortunately, the excellent acting and cinematography made this a tolerable movie.