Le Petit Nicolas

When you select this film to share with your family, you will get two things from it. First, you have selected a surprisingly fun film which can be enjoyed by everyone. Director Laurent Tirard has selected a group of adults and French school children who bring to life a most charming book entitled " Little Nicholas. " Secondly, it's the cute tale of a young school Boy named Nicholas (Maxime Godart), who's little life is perfect. His father (Kad Merad) and mother (Valérie Lemercier both love their son, but he is often confused by their squabbles. Upon learning his mother will soon be expecting another child, Nicholas mistakenly believes they will have to take him to the woods and leave him there. Encouraged by his school friends, Nicholas begins taking steps to either have his parents assassinated or kill his baby sister. The entire confusing scheme is set in motion while his parents are trying to make life better for their son. Including an incredible task given by the teacher to her students to create an essay on what the students would like to become when they grow up. A small wonderful story complete with incredible dramatic antics, social comedy and a dazzling display of child induced situations. Except for the French Dialog which is often translated wrong the movie is a delight for all. ****

This is a very entertaining movie.Loved the opening credits were very creative. Kids looked adorably innocent when they are discussing about grave issues, which are actually mostly imaginary.Looks like the movie was made from real incidents or observations.The potion looked very similar to something I had made during school days, when I got hooked in Chemistry . Characters were well made, consistent and well played.Streets in France looks so beautiful.The beauty of the movie comes from its close resemblance to real life. Scenes of the medical check up, parallel parking, boss visiting the house were hilarious. Good background music too.Well crafted by creative minds,and great story.

Must watch fun movie for whole family. This is how children movie's should be...just simple life events not just fairies & all...

In a suburb in France, the boy Nicolas (Maxime Godart) does not know what he wants to be when he grows up since he is very happy with his mother (Valérie Lemercier), his father (Kad Merad) and his schoolmates. When his friend Joachim has a baby brother, Joachim tells to the other boys that his father had become very gentle with his mother. Then Joachim vanishes from school. Nicolas partially overhears the conversation of his parents about a dinner party for his father's boss and he misunderstands, believing that his mother is pregnant and his parents want to get rid of him. Nicolas tells his friends and they decide to hire a gangster to vanish with the baby, But they need to raise the money first.

"Le Petit Nicolas" is a delightful and refreshing entertainment, with a gang that recalls the characters of Quino's Mafalda without the political jokes. I have laughed a lot, but the dinner party and the visit of the minister of education to the class are among the funniest moments of this original comedy of errors. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Pequeno Nicolau" ("The Little Nicolau")

French people might understandably be disappointed by a theatrical adaptation of the beloved Petit Nicolas, a character so familiar from their childhoods, but as one who was never mesmerized by the original form of these character, I did not go into this with expectations.

But it's a fun little ride. The costumes, the décor and the acting are all impeccable--Valérie Lemercier is especially delightful. So, too, is the writing: the story is predictable, tidy, socially non-offensive and slightly fantastical--but self-consciously so. It is a tribute to and a mild, good-natured parody of 1950's aesthetic and moral values in filmmaking, and it works very well. Most contemporary period films delight in opening up the curtains on the skeletons of what they see as "repressed" past societies and in poisoning our sentimental collective memories with gritty filth (see « 8 femmes » for an excellent French example; "Titanic" for a classic Anglo-American textbook example).

« Le petit Nicolas » is just here to remind us of what we were once supposed to try for--and it makes us wonder if it wasn't in some ways better than what we have ended up with... without, of course, being too moralizing. It makes for a good little weekday evening pick-me-up.