Le boulet

I just got this movie from Amazon.fr and am I glad I did! What a hoot. It is a great buddy-buddy movie, with over-the-top comedy gags, as well as some of the best cgi effects in any film. The Farris Wheel sequence is something to behold. My wife and I encourage you to get this one. Very funny, wonderful action.

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 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...)

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 !

The movie starts well, fast-paced. With Reggio beeing slightly idiot, and Moltès the hard guy you may get a little Taxi feeling. Then the whole thing turns to a bad comedy as the two became fake black guys, and old James Bond bad guy appears. And the end.... A comedy always ends with happy-end, but they loose all their money (sloooowly, while the cast&crew displayed), and it's over. Gérard Lanvin, Benoît Poelvoorde and José Garcia play well, the rest is forgettable. Matte painting and 3d effects are also on low budget, even a child could spot them.