I didn't know a lot about this film heading into a sneak preview in Dallas last week, but left agog at this thrilling, fantastic piece of movie-making from co-directors Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano. It's the best film experience no, the best theater-going experience I've had in well some time. I saw it with a keyed-up audience of Francophiles who had clearly heard the buzz and wanted to be there to see what has been called a 'cultural phenomenon' in Europe as it first hits US shores.
Believe the hype. Nakache and Toledano have constructed their film as a Möbius Strip starting near to the end in seat-gripping introduction as co-protagonists Driss (Omar Sy in a groundbreaking César-winning performance) and Philippe (François Cluzet Tell No One) race a Maserati Quattroporte through the streets of late-night Paris. Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" never sounded so good. The directors then take us back to the start to show us how the two met.
The film perfectly mixes comedy and poignancy. Sy a gifted physical and verbal comedian had our audience convulsed, at times, with laughter. The subject matter dealing with quadriplegia doesn't seem ripe for comedy, but the film conveys both Philippe's desire not to be pitied and Driss' guileless honesty. He simply treats Philippe as he would anyone else. He's never been trained to do anything different.
I extend this entreaty to all mainstream movie-goers: lay down your prejudices and aversions to subtitled movies and see this film. Don't miss out. I'm sure Hollywood will re-make this film...and kill it. Please see this original version. No one will pull your man card. You will not be disappointed.
What a pleasure to review a film when I don't have to reach for good things to say. This heartwarming R-rated comedy is based on a book which tells the true story of two wildly different men who find a common ground and build an enduring friendship based on mutual respect. It was clear from the very beginning that the audience was invested in the story and I loved hearing gales of laughter throughout the theater from beginning to end. Audiences at the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival voted this the "Most Liked" selection.
In this award-winning film from France (English captions), a wealthy aristocrat is paralyzed from a para-gliding accident and has hired many health-care worker/nurses who find caring for a wealthy quadriplegic too intimidating. A chronically unemployed immigrant from Senegal goes for an interview simply to get his application signed so he can continue his public assistance. He tends to be a little rude and doesn't show much respect or pity for the patient, who finds his lack of pity refreshing. The rest, as they say, is history.
We enjoy:
* François Cluzet ("Tell No One") is the aristocrat. His new nurse/attendant is like a splash of cold water right smack in the face (which is the only part of his body with any sensation)!
* Omar Sy ("Micmacs") is the irrepressible nurse who starts out by stealing a Fabergé egg, so he isn't exactly a saint. His incredulity at his first opera is infectious and we all laughed along with our two heroes. And you've gotta see this guy dance!
* Anne Le Ny ("Declaration of War") is charming as the woman who runs the house, the staff, and knows everything. Her slow but steady thaw is so gratifying.
* Audrey Fleurot ("Midnight in Paris") has two of the funniest scenes with the nurse, and you don't expect it either time.
As a wrap-up, they include a couple of clips of the real fellows who were depicted in this film. That is very nice. Once again I have proven I am not an artiste. This satisfying little film has no aspirations to Art (capital "A"), but instead to Entertainment, which is where my discretionary spending money goes. Yes, I will BUY this one from Amazon.
Buy The Intouchables (2012) Now
The Intouchables, a French film written and directed by the team of Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, is I am moved to say absolutely one of the best films I've seen this year. It is certainly one of the most enjoyable. It is not, strictly speaking, a comedy, but it is so rich in humor and in human comedy that I found myself constantly laughing. While fictional, The Intouchables is closely based on the real-life story of two men so starkly different in background and circumstances that it is difficult to imagine their lives even intersecting, let alone becoming intricately intertwined, and yet they did. How it all came about is the story.
The film begins with Driss (Omar Sy), a young African immigrant, driving a luxurious Maserati sports car at full tilt along the streets of Paris at night. Riding with him is Phillipe (François Cluzet), an older Frenchman with a beard who seems to be taking his companion's breakneck driving with remarkable calm. When the police inevitably start after them, Driss bets Phillipe a hundred euros he can shake them off, which Phillipe takes. When he fails to shake them off, Driss then offers to double the wager that he can turn the police into an escort, to which Phillipe laughingly says he's crazy but accepts the wager anyway. Driss then cons the police into believing that he's speeding because he has to get Phillipe who can't get out of the car when the police order him to because he's a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down to the emergency room of a hospital. Phillipe, in spite of the wager, proceeds to support Driss's con by pretending to be having a stroke. The police then hurriedly escort the pair to the nearest hospital, where Driss tells them he can handle things from there, and then the police leave. After having a good laugh at their getting away with it, Phillipe asks "What do we do now?", to which Driss replies confidently "Let me take care of it" and they drive off. The scene sets up the rest of the movie most of which occurs in flashback by showing at once how different the two men are and how in spite of their differences they have an intimately playful us-against-the-world relationship that quickly intrigues and engages.
Flashing back to when Driss and Phillipe first met, we find Phillipe, a wealthy man who really is paralyzed from the neck down, in his Paris mansion, interviewing candidates with the help of his assistant Magalie (Audrey Fleurot) for a position as live-in caregiver to help with the more basic physical tasks that Phillipe needs but can no longer do for himself. Candidate after candidate gives all the reasons why they'd be good for the position but Phillipe is clearly dissatisfied with all of them, not surprising when we learn that he's already gone through quite a few caregivers since becoming quadriplegic. Enter Driss, a brash young man who cuts in ahead of other candidates, not wanting to wait because he's only there to get a paper signed indicating he was interviewed for the job and rejected so that he can qualify for welfare support. He does everything wrong, openly revealing that he knows nothing about the job or the kind of work it involves and is only there to get his paper signed, even as he flirts outrageously with Magalie. But at the same time he talks directly to Phillipe and even makes jokes, the only candidate to do so. Intrigued, Phillipe tricks Driss into coming back, telling him to leave the paper and they will have it ready for him the next day. When Driss returns, thinking he's only there to pick up his paper, Magalie takes him on a tour of the mansion, showing him in particular the room the caregiver will be living in an extremely luxurious room bigger than the whole apartment Driss's aunt and four cousins occupy in a seedy Paris suburbonly at the end revealing to him that he's been hired. Unable to resist the lure of all that luxury and having nowhere else to go since his aunt kicked him out the night before Driss decides to take the job.
It is comical to watch as Driss settles into his job, showing open astonishment as he realizes the extent of Phillipe's limitations, loudly protesting at some of the duties he's expected to handle, like putting tight stockings on Phillipe's legs to help with their circulation just for openers. But we quickly see why Phillipe chose him: Driss is completely uninhibited and utterly without pretense, never holds back what he's thinking, and he interacts with Phillipe like he does with everyone else: crude and irreverent and disrespectful of boundaries and proprieties, but always as a person. And because Driss seems to be the only person who can make Phillipe laugh. I found myself constantly laughing at the humorous moments, but mainly it was in delight at the human comedy unfolding on the screen.
There are so many delightful scenes in The Intouchables, a lot of which center around either Driss drawing Phillipe out of his comfort zone or Phillipe drawing Driss out of his. The first time Phillipe wants to go out for a ride, instead of the van designed to accommodate him and his wheelchair, Driss insists on taking the Maserati Quattroporte he sees instead. "Why would you want to ride around in that," he asks incredulously, dismissing the van, "when you have this?" The van never gets used after that. Later, once Driss has gotten Phillipe to come out of himself more, Phillipe decides to go para-sailing again (it was in fact a para-sailing accident that left him paralyzed). Driss thinks Phillipe is crazy, loudly protesting that there's no way Phillipe is going to get him to try it. And then the next thing we see is Driss para-sailing, screaming in total terror at first but soon laughing and shouting at how incredible the experience is. And one of the best scenes is at Phillipe's birthday party where the guests listen to a live chamber music group that Phillipe has hired. After most of the guests have gone and the musicians are about to leave, Phillipe impulsively tells them to stay, wanting to expose Driss to a variety of classical music, to which Driss responds, reluctantly at first, but then finally seeming to see what Phillipe gets out of it. Driss then turns around and plugs in his MP3 player, taking the opportunity to show Phillipe the kind of music he likes Earth, Wind & Fire in particular and soon he has the party rocking with everyone joining him on the dance floor.
In addition to the humor though, there are a lot of serious moments. Both Driss and Phillipe have their troubles. Driss's relationship with his aunt is rocky because of his irresponsibility and his troubles with the law, and he sees one of his younger cousins is being lured into the gang life. Phillipe misses his wife, who died of cancer before his accident. His adopted daughter is a spoiled brat, he has a poetic pen-pal relationship with a women he longs to meet but is afraid to reveal his physical situation to, and he suffers periodically from excruciating phantom pains that he can do nothing about but endure.
There is a lot more that I could mention about what happens in the film, but I think it best not to say anything further. It's simply too much fun to see things unfold as the relationship between Driss and Phillipe develops, both in the humorous moments as well as the more serious ones, so I will leave those pleasures for others to discover.
The cast are all very natural and their performances first-class, but François Cluzet's Phillipe and Omar Sy's Driss are truly outstanding in their roles. Cluzet who bears a striking resemblance to Dustin Hoffman in some ways has the more difficult task as he can only use his face to convey everything about Phillipe's character, a particular challenge given Omar Sy's infectious and animated physicality. But Cluzet does more than hold his own, showing Phillipe's evolution as his expressions grow less contained and more open as his relationship with Driss draws him out of himself. Sy's challenge is more subtle as he must convey Driss's gradual maturing as new worlds and ideas are opened to him, and as he finds himself becoming more responsible, both in his relationship with Phillipe and in his attitude towards his family. Both actors succeed marvelously, making their characters and the complex relationship the two share completely believable. I later learned from reading about The Intouchables that Omar Sy appeared in three films that Nakache and Toledano did prior to this one. Judging by his performance in The Intouchables, it's easy to see why they keep casting him.
It would be easy if one has not actually seen The Intouchables to dismiss it as just another "buddy" or "odd-couple" movie. That would be a big mistake, because you'd be denying yourself a thoroughly enjoyable experience. When it was released in late 2011, The Intouchables quickly became the second-biggest grossing film in French movie history. Internationally, it is the biggest grossing non-English film, beating the record formerly held by Miyazaki's Spirited Away, proof that the appeal of the film and of its truly memorable characters is indeed universal.
Highly, highly recommended for everyone. It may well be the best film you'll see all year. It will certainly be the one you'll most enjoy having seen.
Read Best Reviews of The Intouchables (2012) Here
This film is at once touching, funny, 'a teaching moment' .... Multi-dimensional in so many ways. Don't miss it.
Rarely, do I put a DVD on my list for purchase as soon as I've seen it in the theater. This is on my list... I'm looking forward to seeing it again.
A genuine treat... And based on a true story. Two very different people who saved each other! Beautiful story, beautifully told.
Enjoy!
***** August 5 update: *****
I saw the film again yesterday. It was just as charming the second time around.
Enjoy!
Want The Intouchables (2012) Discount?
I just watched The Intouchables at the Nashville Film Festival. What a treasure! This film is funny, emotional, funny, touching, and funny. Can't wait for it to become USA compatible to purchase. If this happens to come to your area do not waste time. RUN to the theater, sit back and enjoy this fabulous French film.
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Buyer Take Note! I've been a fan of this movie since its theatrical release in 1978 and give the movie five stars. However, National Lampoon's Animal House 30th Anniversary Edition (30AE) is simply a re-release, and the third dip on DVD, has nothing significantly new to offer from the previous release and my rating is for the 30AE release. The two documentary extras have been carried over from the 2003 Double Secret Probation Edition (DSPE). It does return the trailer from the 1998 Collector's Edition (CE). New to this release is a lame Scene It? game. Missing are two extras from the DSPE, the Shout music video and a text commentary of anecdotes. One improvement from the DSPE is that on the 30AE you are not forced to watch movie trailers before you get to the main menu. Universal appears to be repackaging this film every five years. The 30AE should have delivered all the previous extras and an audio commentary by the director, writers and cast. The trailer is amusing, but is it worth buying the 30AE if you already own the DSPE? The deciding factors appear to be whether you want the text commentary and everything on one disc or the trailer and the same contents spread over two discs. I would say skip the 30AE if you already own the DSPE. Maybe in five years we will get an ultimate edition of this movie on whatever video format is in use then. Here's a comparison of all three versions of Animal House on DVD:
