Dir: Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano
Cast: Francois Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny
I mainly went to see this as my mum wanted to, I had also heard a few good things. The film sadly did not get a huge release but I did manage to catch it and have just seen it was the highest rated film on Letterboxd. The film is charming, funny and poignant.
It starts with Driss (Omar Sy) driving very fast in a Maserati with Philippe (Francois Cluzet) as his passenger. The police pull them over and Driss explains Philippe is having a stroke so the police then escort them to the hospital. This of course is a lie and we see the two men laughing. The film then flashes back to when the two men first met. Philippe is a quadriplegic and is looking to hire a live in helper, Driss goes to be interviewed but only so he can get a signature that he needs so he can still claim benefits. After the interview we see Driss' homelife, he lives in a tiny flat with quite a few kids that are his Auntys'. She boots him out as he has been away for about 6 months and she does not want him. The next day Driss goes to get his signed form from Philippe and finds he has actually go the job, on a trial period. From here on in both men are treated to lifestyles they have never encountered before.
This film is a true story although I did find it a bit puzzling (or unsettling) that when you see the two men for real at the end, they are both white. I don't know why the filmmakers chose to make Driss black apart from they thought that it would either add to the "buddyness" which is highly patronising or they in an error thought it would seem less racist. The most racist reason being to explain Driss home life. You may wonder after that mini rant why I have included the film in here and it is just pure and simply this:
As a film it was brilliant and had all the emotions needed to make a good story and I felt the two leads had genuine chemistry (in the non romantic way!) and their acting was excellent.
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