In fuga col cretino

Launched in the Spring 2002 in France, "le boulet" was hugely successful (more than 3 million of spectators in the French theaters). Why? This success remains both mysterious and unexplainable because Alain Berbérian's movie's got every conceivable fault, every fault imaginable so that you can name it: the perfect load of rubbish. It consists on an uninspired and hackneyed script with threadbare topics. Dialogs that aren't very worked and a poor directing that emphasizes too much on special effects.

But above all, "le boulet" is a bad movie because it borrows mostly elements or sequences from a lot of French movies. Thus, you find traces of "la cité de la peur" (1994) made by the same director, always Berbérian. But you also think about "la soif de l'or" (1993) and "la grande vadrouille" (1966) both made by Gérard Oury. Even the duo of characters with opposed disposition (here, we deal with the frail Poelvoorde and the heartless Lanvin) and who are however compelled to work together isn't original. Indeed, this comic device had been already used (and brilliantly) by Francis Veber. You only have to watch "la chèvre" (1981) or "les fugitifs" (1986) to realize it.

With this poor movie that looks hollow, we deal with a very serious situation: it would appear that French comedy is declining...

I really didn't know what to expect from this one. Actually I expected a movie like "la chèvre", "les compères" or "l'emmerdeur" : two guys unfortunately sticked one to the other for some reason... Allowing great and funny actors show. But there ?... The actors are good (but Poelvoerde is not at his best here for me), the stunts and special effects are not far from the best action films. The story is not bad. The directing is fair. But something doesn't work at all. I'm not sure of what. Too much violence ? some too-stupid-to-be-true behaviors ? Maybe. So I didn't enjoyed it completely and I won't give it more than a 5 on 10.

"Le Boulet" has been brought out on DVD in the Netherlands with the title "Rally"! This title is a reference to the race (Paris-Dakar)being held in Afrika! IMDb didn't recognize this title,so I guess they made this title up for the dutch market! From the cover I expected something like "Taxi" but wasn't sure. But I got more!This movie surprised me totally! It is shown that the actors in the movie really had fun making this movie! So much is happening in this movie and never gets boring! I laughed a lot while watching this movie and enjoyed the action! The main character is a real idiot and drives his reluctant partner in crime totally mad! I don't understand why many reviewers didn't like this movie! Because this one is really funny and even delivers on some great stunts and action! Pure fun!

This movie is better than one thought. Does anybody remember the great 70ies movies with Louis De Funès ? This one is in the same spirit with goofy comic-like characters and a taste of adventure. It is set in France and in Africa. Everybody is funnily over acting and the movie has one of the dumbest (and funniest) endings in recent movie history. Give it a try !

I recently saw this movie on an airplane. I watched it on a tiny 4inch screen (100mm) and had to read subtitles all the way through. It was a hilarious film. If the creators were trying to make a serious blockbuster film, they missed the mark. But I looked to me like they were out to make a fun film that just got crazy at times. This they did. Even reading subtitles, I laughed out loud several times (not a good idea on a crowded plane, btw). Now it is possible that it was because I was in a confined environment with little or no outside stimulii for 8 hours that I found this piece highly entertaining, but I still have to rate this a 7 or 8 outta 10 for entertainment value. Look for it. (Probably not on a North American screen though...)