La tour Montparnasse infernale

"Dis 'Hard'" was what the posters for this movie read, a "clever" french play on the American film "Die Hard". La Tour Montparnasse is a blatant spoof of "Die Hard" by the two incredibly popular French comedians, Eric and Ramzy. I'm not sure there is an American equivalent to these guys, but Martin Lawrence comes to mind. Eric and Ramzy combine to create the "mis-matched" comedy pair: one tall, the other short, one loud, the other shy. Although this pairing has been done over and over and over again, Eric and Ramzy are good natured and playful and are enjoyable to watch.

The film, on the other hand, isn't so easy to watch. La Tour Montparnasse is the sole "skyscraper" in Paris, the natural setting for a French "Die Hard" knockoff. The movie starts off with Eric and Ramzy playing window washers on the side of the building. They are wasting time spitting off the building and trying to flirt with the women inside the building. Within 3 minutes of this movie, you have a rough idea of the intelligence behind it. It is dumb. It is childish. It has pretty low production value. But, there are some decent gags.

The scenes I thought were quite funny was a matrix spoof (yes, it's pretty topical humor) and an incredible spoof of Bruce Lee's "Game of Death." This joke probably flies by most of the audience (I think I was the only one laughing in the theater) but it is hilarious. There is also a decent "Speed" spoof at the very end of the film.

The negatives to the film? It is pretty dang homophobic. Apparently in France it is still okay to have homophobia in the films, but I found it a little jarring. There is a constant banter between Eric and Ramzy about "gayness." The production values for the film are also quite low, but considering comedies usually aren't huge budget blockbusters anyway, it's not such a huge deal. Maybe the most blatant problem is the film's tendency to act like "Scary Movie": it comes off as a series of gags with no real connection between them. The plot is thiiiiiiin and it serves only to bridge the gags or spoofs in the film.

Overall, I would give the film a middle of the road 5. It's not great, it's not terrible, and any Bruce Lee fan should definately watch the great spoof near the last half hour of the film.

I say "mostly" because there are some chuckles here and there (the Chinese Bruce Lee - wannabe and his demise). On the whole, however, this is strictly for fans of the Eric and Ramzy comic duo. In case you've never heard of them (this is only their second film I have watched myself), let me give you an idea of what to expect: take Abbott and Costello, drop their intellectual level by about 5 notches, and you get Eric and Ramzy. Of course, dumb characters have been the source of comedy since the beginning of the genre, but these two often cross the line from mere dumbness to mental retardation. And what's worse, even other characters who behave smartly most of the time suddenly go dumb at crucial moments (for example, near the end, Marina Foïs should have realized much earlier that they have replaced the real helicopter pilots). So: Eric and Ramzy fans will probably love it, tough going for anyone else; action fans can at least be rewarded with a few nice explosions. (**)

THE FIRST AND VERY BEST OF ERIC & RAMZY FILMS.

Eric & Ramzy may be nobodies on the anglo-saxon planet but they are a very famous comical duo in France.

They're also a bit of a mystery : their shows are quite dull, their films bomb one after another, yet when they are invited as guests in any show they just steal it...It seems they can only be (very) funny when unleashed and natural. ; that's the wonder of this marvelous little comedy, to watch them play -maybe because it was their first film- in the same way they behave when unfretted.

The plot is simple yet good : on a Friday evening,in the deserted, lone skyscraper of inner Paris, the Montparnasse tower, a gang has taken hostage a rich CEO and his sons who came for their annual general assembly, in order to steal 50 million francs off their headquarters strongroom ; only two simple minds can help derail the plot ; two helplessly unintelligent, even retarded, impossibly goofy window cleaners ; and of course, in their own stupid way, they'll manage to do it.

Not only this movie is a big bowl of fresh and funny inspiration, but it is remarkably directed, in a near-Hollywood style ; the shooting, the photography, the music are all extremely professional, and the other actors, especially Marina Foïs as the Mischivious Stéphanie/marie-joëlle and Serge Riaboukine as the cold-blooded gang chief and anxious suitor are absolutely top-notch.

The absolute discrepancy between the professionalism, seriousness of the filming, Hitchcock-like, and the childishness of Eric & Ramzy, only adds to the feel-good factor.

This adorable comedy really deserves an 8.

A witless spoof of Die Hard, and other movies when it runs out of ideas, one of France's top 2001 box office draws feature the inexplicably popular TV comedy duo of Judor and Bedia, who have seemed to model themselves on the Dumb and Dumber sub-genre of comedy. The effect is rather like watching Norman Wisdom in the same film as Jerry Lewis while each tries to slow down and dilute his schtick to make the other look better. One excruciating routine has one of them repeatedly failing to notice as the other dirties the window he has just cleaned. The rather cute Foïs has her features fixed in an expression of contempt throughout, though it might be boredom, and Riaboukine is wasted in the Alan Rickman role. The hardware and production values are in fact pretty well matched to the Die Hard films (even the colour processing is the same), but it only makes one long all the more for someone to either shoot or defenestrate these two cretins and put us out of our misery. In brief, this one definitely does not travel.

This movie is like "Dumb & Dumber" the French way. Take a couple of very very dumb guys and you have it. The first time I didn't laugh. The second time a little. Now, it's one of my preferred movies. If you don't understand Eric & Ramzy humor, forget it. The problem I guess is that half of the movie is made of stupid French word game. I don't know the English translation but if it's not good, that explains. I know "Dumb & Dumber" and many times, I'm dead laughing. This movie is similar but not for everybody. You must accept Eric & Ramzy humor like the very very stupid case when a Blue thing (being Ramzy's shirt) forbids Eric to go. After, Ramzy use his lighter flame to frighten Eric, like an animal. It's stupid but their humor.