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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 01/07/2013 : 16:27:41
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Can't remember when we've had so many films about carers and their charges.
The American exemplar is reviewed here by randall and myself: The Sessions.
Three more are from France, two already reviewed here:
Amour
and
Rust and Bone
All these have been very well received, and now here's another. Loosely based on a true story and set largely in Paris, it's become the 2nd largest grossing film in French history.
Whatever else - and there's much to praise - that's because of the two central performances. Yes, they're given wonderful support from the ensemble cast, but these two redefine screen magic, and with two very different though complementary styles.
We meet the ebullient Omar Sy as Driss. He's big and strong, trying to keep at bay the temptations of the not-so-legal beckonings out of poverty. Trying inconsistently to help out hard-working mom, who slaves away her days cleaning for the rich while his younger siblings run riot; and frequently he fuck up himself.
Driss is a ducker-and-diver, a skiver, and totally charming. It's not that you quite forgive him for his mayhem, but you know he's never evil, and his heart's in the right place - though his body may not be.
It's Francois Cluzet's Philippe who has to calculate whether to take a chance when Driss half-heartedly applies for a job as the 24/7 carer for this totally incapacitated multi-millionaire.
Instead of the [often hilarious] interviews with other candidates, Driss never for a moment thinks he'll get the gig, and really just wants a paper to prove to the benefit office that he's attended.
As he realizes that the deal includes living in more opulent surroundings than he's ever imagined, and bearing in mind his mother's just asked him to leave home, he starts to plot and plan. But in the end, of course - or we'd have no film - he does get the job - primarily by being himself.
He's never before encountered someone who's quadriplegic, and there are some laugh-out-loud moments showing the consequences of his inattention, even near-neglect. Just one example - not really a spoiler: when Philippe's cell phone rings, Driss [busy doing something else] just holds out the phone to him, completely forgetting he can't reach out, let alone hold it in his hand.
So, yes, this is a comedy, and so well acted it's already won a slew of awards, including a Best Actor Cesar for Sy. The real Driss is Egyptian, but the film has accommodated Sy's origins - [though himself born in France, his parents are from West Africa].
Co-writer/directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano have provided the two leads with the kind of character meat that actors long to feast on. Some critics feel they've poured too much schmaltz over it, but I didn't find it anything but delightful.
Apparently there's already whisperings in cine-corners of an American remake.
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Untouchable
