Jamel Debbouze

  • Alad’2 (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, January 2022) While Alad’2 is technically a sequel to the 2015 comedy Les Nouvelles Aventures d’Aladin, you don’t need to have seen the first film in order to make sense of this one (well, except for the call-backs)—in fact, the sequel aspect of the story following up on Aladdin’s familiar first adventure works no matter how the first adventure was told, and the off-the-wall comic approach may even feel fresher. The (disappointing) framing device has to do with a young man travelling by plane to the wedding of his former flame, and telling an Aladdin story very much influenced by his life to the boy sitting next to him. Within the framing device, we have a madcap, completely anachronistic take on Aladdin’s further adventures — complete with an evil dictator (Jamel Debbouze, returning to the big screen after a few judicious low-profile years following his massive overexposure circa 2002–2012 but still holding on to his showboating tendencies) competing for the lovely princess’ hand. The script throws everything it can think of in the hope that something will stick, and sometimes it does—although the funny factor of cramming an extended reference to Frozen’s “Let it go” is debatable. (Significantly, the gag very specifically relies on the French translation of the song—I wonder how that would get back-translated in English.)  The comedy is quite uneven and when it doesn’t work, it’s bad enough to grit our teeth. On the other hand, a lot of material does work, the special effects get the message across and the framing device helps get to the film’s somewhat unlikely happy ending. Alad’2 is a silly comedy and should be approached as such—fun if you’re indulgent, but probably not worth pondering longer than the end credits roll.

  • Hollywoo (2011)

    Hollywoo (2011)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2021) Hollywood loves to talk about Hollywood, but French film Hollywoo is a look at Los Angeles moviemaking that could only have come from outsiders. It begins in Paris, as the voice actress dubbing an insanely popular TV show actress sees her livelihood threatened by the abrupt retirement of the actress. (Sidenote speaking from French-Canada: In real life, this doesn’t happen, as nearly all dubbing actors are specialized professionals with a portfolio of roles.)  Since this is a silly comedy, our protagonist does what no one else would do: fly off to California to try to convince the actress to un-retire. But realism does make a return for comic impact once it becomes obvious that no one (not even a French dubbing actress) can simply walk in to see a famous actress — complications repetitively emerge as various approaches are rebuffed. Then Hollywoo is off to a series of quests leading to other quests, eventually involving another French citizen and then, hilariously, a French-Canadian character presented as antagonist. (The biggest laugh in the film, at least for me, is when the purely European-French protagonist tries imitating the French-Canadian character, complete with swear words.)  The result is uneven: even swallowing the whopping insanity of the premise, the annoying emphasis on the character played by Jamel Debbouze is more a function of his circa-2010 popularity than something that serves the film. (His popularity has, since then, considerably waned — perhaps as a result of the over-exposure he received, as demonstrated here.)  Florence Foresti isn’t immediately likable here, but the film eventually warms up to her as she gets gradually saner over the course of the film and scores a few victories in her quixotic quest. As a look at Hollywood, Hollywoo is clearly an outsider’s rant — there’s almost as much reverence for an outdated idea of how it works as a gentle satirical jab at the people living there. Still, it’s almost refreshing to get non-Americans having fun in Los Angeles: Hollywood, for better or for worse, has not belonged to the Americans for a very long time. Everyone gets to say what they think of it.

  • Astérix aux jeux olympiques [Asterix at the Olympic Games] (2008)

    Astérix aux jeux olympiques [Asterix at the Olympic Games] (2008)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, November 2019) There were four live-action movies based on the Asterix comic books between 1999 and 2012, and there’s a fair case to be made that Astérix aux jeux olympiques is the worst of them. Sure, the first film had some issues in terms of how to integrate comic book exaggeration in a live-action setting. But the script was generally serviceable, and that’s more than we can say about this third instalment. The most fundamental of its mistakes is to make an Astérix and Obélix story in which both main characters are supporting players in another plot having to do with fairly minor characters. The detour to Greece for the titular Olympic Games is (in keeping with the original comic book) an excuse to parody the modern Games, but they keep adding more subplots that have little to do with the putative heroes of the film. Much of the film is spent wondering when we’ll ditch the useless characters and go back to the lead duo. The chariot race that composes much of the third act does bring some much-needed energy back into the film, although that’s not a constant—whenever you puzzle over some lame joke, scene or one-off character interrupting the flow of the action, head over to the film’s Wikipedia page and you will realize that you’ve just seen a celebrity cameo from someone you’ve never heard of as a future viewer hailing from a future distant enough from 2008, which is already starting to happen in 2019. But Astérix aux jeux olympiques keeps the worst for last, as rather than wrap things up neatly with a quick banquet scene, it drags on for another 5–10 minutes for the sole purpose of bringing back an annoying character from the previous film (played by infamous showboater Jamel Debbouze) as well as other celebrity cameos. Enough. By that time, we just want it to be over. The special effects are better than the previous film, but not used judiciously or even tastefully. The direction isn’t particularly strong, and while it’s fun to see French-Canadian Stéphane Rousseau in a leading role, the amount of screen time he gets is an issue when the main characters of the series are sidelined. At least Clovis Cornillac and Gérard Depardieu are not bad as Astérix and Obelix, with no less than Alain Delon as Julius Caesar. Still, there’s not enough to offset the tremendous waste that is the misguided script and the overindulgent execution.

  • Sur la piste du Marsupilami [HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami] (2012)

    Sur la piste du Marsupilami [HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami] (2012)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On TV, July 2019) I was looking forward semi-reluctantly to Sur la piste du Marsupilami. Adaptations of beloved French-language comic book series have been hit-and-miss so far, especially when tackling comedy-based series—the humour doesn’t always translate so well, and sometimes the material feels hostage to the filmic sensibilities of the time. On the other hand, Spirou was among my top comic-book series when I was young (something helped along by the versatility of the series), and the Marsupilami was one of my favourite characters from that series. I can’t recall most of the albums I read as a kid, but Le nid des Marsupilamis was something else. In any case, this 2012 movie adaptation retains the marsupilami and nothing else—the story becomes a comedy featuring writer-director/star Alain Chabat as well as comic superstar Jamel Debbouze as, respectively, a reporter urgently looking for one last scoop, and a small-time hustler with his own issues about the mythical marsupilami. This being said, there’s a lot more to the plot, including a rejuvenated botanist, a Céline-Dion obsessed dictator and a prophecy from the local natives. The humour is certainly hit-and-miss, at its weakest in kids-friendly silliness and at its strongest when most absurd. (The prophecy itself is hilarious, although everything sounds funnier when it’s narrated by as attractive an actress as Liya Kebede.)  The film, obviously, rests on the success of portraying the marsupilami on-screen, and here at least it succeeds well: The marsupilami is full bouncy CGI, with practical effects used for his interaction with objects and characters. Much of the classic comics gags are there (including the tail bunched up in a fist) and even more. The result is fine—even though the number of predictable or simplistic scenes far outnumber the inconsistent flashes of genius found here and there. Géraldine Nakache and Lambert Wilson also do nicely in their respective roles. Keep watching the credits—in addition to a singalong and a rather fantastic solo dance number, there are numerous gags sprinkled in the text of the credits themselves.

  • Angel-A (2005)

    Angel-A (2005)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, February 2012)  The most remarkable thing about Angel-A is how atypical it feels when compared to the rest of writer/director Luc Besson’s filmography.  You’d have to dig back to the eighties (past the most recent bad action movies and older better action/SF films) to find something like it, perhaps The Big Blue.  Angel-A begins by showing small-time hustler down and out in Paris, about to throw himself off a bridge.  But then!  A mysterious woman appears and forces our protagonist to take control of his own life.  The rest of the film unfolds as a black-and-white dream set in picturesque Paris, as protagonist and guardian angel solve their problems and fall in love.  Plot-wise, it’s thin.  Visually, however, it’s absolutely gorgeous: The black-and-white cinematography is nearly perfect at capturing Paris at its most inspiring, and the fairytale atmosphere helps a lot in establishing Angel-A‘s own reality.  In other hands, it could have been a pretentious art-house mess.  In Besson’s grip, however, it turns into a relatively entertaining piece of ambitious popular cinema.  Hardly perfect, no: the plot contrivances are numerous and those who think Besson can’t quite write female characters will have more material to consider here.  Jamel Debbouze, far better-known as a comedian, is a bit of a revelation here as the pathetic protagonist.  Unfortunately, Rie Rasmussen isn’t the best choice as Angela; her delivery (in her third language) is mealy-mouthed and her physique doesn’t add that much to the film.  Still, Angel-A is a remarkable piece of work for its cinematography alone; Besson fans and detractors owe it to themselves to have a look, if only to show that he can do something else than dumb anti-establishment action-comedies.