Les Boys IV (2005)

(On TV, August 2020) Considering how closely the Les Boys series aligned itself with a certain stereotypical depiction of French-Canadian males, it was almost inevitable that sooner or later, it would pick up that other big French-Canadian tradition: the fishing trip up north. After the usual 45-minute throat clearing so characteristic to the ensemble nature of the film series, this fourth instalment finally picks up its own identity when it becomes clear to the coach that his dysfunctional team needs a deep-woods retreat to patch itself. Most of the film’s middle section fuels its comedy by taking up the clichés of an expedition gone wrong, fit to the ongoing characters. It’s watchable without being particularly better than expected. Directed by George Mihalka rather than Louis Saïa (who helmed the first three films), this one has occasional moments of more intense cinematography, and some not-so-subtle touches (such as the camera lingering on hockey tape as the team psychologically gets back together). Most of the cast is back, although Patrick Huard’s character is hilariously depicted as being bandaged up and so unable to speak. The soundtrack is far less remarkable without Éric Lapointe’s involvement, and the episodic nature of the characters gets more and more obvious – the series would become a five-season TV show two years later. Still, as a wrap-up to the mainline series, it’s not too bad, and it certainly cannot be blamed for delivering exactly what fans were expecting.