dutchtom1

This film is only for those who are entertained by "comedian" Gad Elmaleh. He takes up most of the time. Sophie only appears once in a while (another good pay-check for her, though). Gad's type of slapstick humor is really unbearable: the frenetic piano playing, the continuous narcissistic showmanship, the tired old battle of the sexes quips, and his buddies and their clique-y in-crowd--jokes - that must be witnessed by all else around them, because really the joke is on every one else, for paying even a smidgen of attention to these unpleasant creatures. Who wouldn't wanna be part of this social circle, right? Not!

Decor wise it's all a big chaos as well. The only places of relief are the outside Paris exteriors.

Moreover this film is pure propaganda for everything that's wrong with France these days. Absolute conformism to hierarchic capitalism is portrayed as completely normal (even desirable); proposing a further degeneration of the three basic principles of French culture: liberty, fraternity, and equality. The characters think nothing of it, that they have to subject themselves to humiliation and maltreatment from "powerful" people (for example the ape like record company director barking at Gad through Skype - like an African despot). To an immigrant like, Elmaleh, this role reversal might be hilarious, but the native French people are fed up with this degeneracy. Me and my buddies wil bring your once civilised country down, and I'm gonna rub your faces in it. That is the main purpose of the film, I got it loud and clear, from picking up on all the subliminal messages mockingly thrust in my face as "comedy."

This product is reprehensible on all levels.

I was expecting much from this film. The synopsis of the movie interested me, and also Penelope's involvement as a destitute character stirred my curiosity. However, the film is plagued by many faults. The worst one is that the movie focuses too much on the male character, who also happens to be the director (surprise surprise). It's what I call the Nanni Morreti syndrome: a childish self obsessed sexist heterosexual male who is supposedly desired by all other characters, the wife he cheats on, the girl he rapes, the daughter whom he treats like a son, and then still wants the whole world to take pity on him for his suffering existence in the upper class world of the Italian elite. The soundtrack is riddled with too many songs trying to say something about the particular situations of scenes, and the musical score sounds like a bad ennio morricone composition, (even a Mexican soap has better music). By the time the climax of the movie arrives, already so many pseudo-dramatic tragedies have occurred, that one can't really care anymore. This is one of those examples why money shouldn't be pumped into European cinema. Because the money always seems to end up in the pockets of ego centric directors who haven't got a clue about building up drama. I only kept watching because Penelope Cruz's performance is so unlike her normal characters, and she does a great job, but she can't save an otherwise flawed movie.

The movie portrays the opposite of the American dream. Because for every great winner there are great losers, not because they deserve that, but because bad luck can strike anyone. And when just surviving becomes an impossible dream to achieve, that's when you know you're a goner. Homelessness is humiliating. It is more important that all citizens have homes and medical aid, than to be spoilt for choice, and become obese, sick with a third house and a yacht, while others have nothing. The Amercian dream should be providence for everyone, but the real nightmare is stark capitalism relentlessly leaving people out in the dark. This movie is incredibly touching and has a communistic message, countering the yuppie consensus of the Reagan era. It surpasses its format, eg, a TV movie. And surpasses most Hollywood dross. 10 out of 10