Grégoire Moulin contre l'humanité

It's a comedy and, well, it is funny !!! I mean, really funny ! It's one of the fastest French comedies I've seen this year. The story is not very important - the struggle of a shy french guy to get to his date, braving all sorts of "bad" people, catastrophies and accidents - but the treatment is. Great, great actors, a never-ending stream of gags, a very naive love story... I just loved it. Imagine an "After Hours", written by the Monty Python. Great !

If I had to give my opinion about this movie, I would say this: it is the meeting between "Amélie Poulain" (2001) and the Podalydès brothers' cinema. A shy and unassuming man would like to charm a woman, Odile. For this, he stole her wallet so as to arrange a date with her. She accepts. But what Grégoire doesn't know is that a series of unexpected events and disasters will turn his night into a nightmare. As we can see by reading this summary, the story rests on comparatively classical bases and Artus de Penguern (both the director and the main actor) told it with a zany and fanciful humor that gives birth to whacky comical situations. The meeting of two peaks of the French cinema (I must however admit that although I'm not very fond of "Amélie Poulain", I enjoy the Podalydès brothers' films) should give an entertaining success. But however, the movie doesn't work. All right, the comical sequences follow on from each other without injury times. All right, the presence of dreamlike sequences enables to lighten the movie (when Odile identifies with Mme Bovary). In another extent, through Grégoire's trouble, we can detect a caricature of French people who are (a little too) fond of football. A passion that can lead them to madness. The mayonnaise isn't thickening because there is too much ponderousness and not enough subtlety in Penguern's style. Because of this irritating fault that harms the film, it is difficult to laugh honestly and Odile should have crossed the street to reveal her love for Grégoire from the beginning. This latter wouldn't probably have known so much trouble...

This clumsy film was Penguern's first movie. Maybe, will he improve his style in next movies in the future.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who knows even just a little about modern France or French language. (I believe this movie is not subtitled.) I myself can read but not speak (much) of that wonderful language but there is enough visual storytelling and jokes to allow you to make with the ha-ha. Best scene for me: the inconsolable fans in the bar at the unhappy conclusion of the football game. The movie even has stylish ending credits where the hero finds himself in a Baroque or possibly Rococo French line dance during a masquerade ball. Artus de Penguern does a superb job as writer/director and as Gregoire, ever hopeful, but stymied lover of would-be Madame Bovary played by Pascale Arbillot.

I'll make this short: it was excellent and I haven't laughed so hard in a while. As one reviewer wrote: it's a French 'After Hours' only better and is whimsically hysterical start to finish. While it's at it, it has some sweet poignancy mixed in - something only the French are able to accomplish without kitsch. I loved it. Make a point of looking for this one. Every single performance is stellar and never over the top yet totally over the top. I don't know but it just works.

The plot: a shy guy who works a dull job observes a ballet teacher across the street for weeks. Since he can't muster up enough courage to ask her out, he manages to steal her wallet which he intends to return to her - as the hero who found her purse. They arrange to meet on the night of a big football game in a café. While Odile (the woman) waits, she reads Madame Bovary. Like i said, After Hours with a sprinkle of Amelie mixed in.

Gregoire Moulin contre L'Humanité.

This movie deserves a 10. Although it is a comedy with a simple story, nearly every line in the script tries to generate a comic situation or mock about something. Even when a wit remark isn't at hand, you can laugh at certain situations, like a dog driving a car or a goalkeeper without an arm in a soccer match. Yes, the movie has a gallery of particular characters. Also, the director knows how to exploit certain camera angles to give you meaningful details.

The only people who should not watch this excellent movie are those who: don't like foreign movies, don't want to read subtitles, don't understand soccer, don't take life with a grain of salt. If you are none of them, just give it a try. I did, and I ended watching it twice.