Les rois de l'arnaque

I didn't find this French documentary engaging enough. The scam is simple, lacking finesse and smarts, and only the ineptitude of the government makes small group of low-lives rich beyond their wildest dreams. In a nutshell, the scammers charge tax when selling CO2 quotas, and don't report the tax to the government, basically keeping the tax for themselves. The main character in this French documentary, Marco Mouly, is a Tunisian who has spent his life scamming. I found him unpleasant because he's bragging non-stop, and obviously has no moral compass. He lets his best friend down, and has no regard for anyone but himself. Despite the fact that Marco Mouly talks a mile a minute, he manages to say absolutely nothing.

The scammers don't even hide their money: they spend like Croesus on fancy cars, parties, and are getting the red carpet treatment everywhere. As the scammers' group grows, so does the risk of being found. In fact, it's likely the government wouldn't have caught them if it wasn't for a spurned father in-law. Frustratingly enough, even after catching the culprits, the government wasn't able to recuperate most of the money, There was nothing smart about these scammers, they just had guts (or lack conscience), and got lucky.

Switched off after 15 minutes of watching. Boring and predictable. Doesn't show any surprising mechanisms of scam. Just a life of a boring scammer who thinks is super smart. And is not...

I'm a documentary junkie... but I couldn't handle it any longer after 20min of this. Mardoche Mouly is so obnoxious I would literally pay some money to not hear him talk.

In terms of production, it's the same problem that plagues many docus - style over substance. Sleek neons and captivating montages, but no real attempts to explain how the VAT was defrauded, it's just mindless repetitions of how they siphoned it off. How? Why there's such a loophole? Why has it managed to be exploited in various forms over the years? What's the point of having experts appear on the show if their value is just entertainment?

This was like watching a train wreck or eating too much candy. I wanted to stop, but couldn't.

Having Marco Mouly as the narrator - feeding into his already MASSIVE ego was a MASSIVE mistake. It cost at least 3 stars. He is not nearly as entertaining as he thinks he is. The farcical faces he makes makes a mockery of the damage he created in the EU and the money he stole from the people and projects the money would have been used for - rather than the obscene parties, cars and clothes. He's always very pleased with himself - and the more pleased he became, the sleazier he got.

Am thrilled this is over.

I can't say don't watch it - just make sure you have time for a shower afterwards if you do.

Had a great time watching this. The documentary is well done and very catchy. Marco Mouly's storytelling is just perfect and amusing in its own way. Every person in this documentary is a character on his own and i love that.