The title was perfect. The precredits strike: it concerns presidential wishes, from Hollande to Pompidou. All heads of state use the phrase “a difficult year.” The laughter is there. The authors took risks. We’ll have to keep up the pace. The truth is that they are doing brilliantly. Welcome, then, to 2023. Times are tough. Toledano and Nakache sign here the comedy of over-indebtedness. The subject is serious. We don’t have to treat it harshly. The Italians got along in the 1960s and some. The French duo has nothing to be ashamed of by the comparison.
Albert and Bruno are at the end of their tether. The first, who works in Roissy, sells lost objects. The second is in the depths of depression. They meet by chance around a stolen television. That’s a pair. One owes everyone money. The other swallows barbiturates. In front of the inanimate body of Jonathan Cohen, Pio Marmaï on the phone responds to his interlocutor who advises him to call the 18th: “But it’s the 15th, we’re not going to wait three days! » There is the feverish and the relaxed, like in a fable by La Fontaine. Their idea is to crash into a charity to get free drinks. The cause of “Objectif terre”, we will see later. Beers first.
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They politely attend conferences, agree to have nicknames (“Chick”, “Lexo”), squint at a brunette activist with bangs. This is well worth a start, despite the distressing slogans that punctuate the demonstrations. This protests against Black Friday, talks about global warming. Our heroes look elsewhere. The commando actions are accompanied by hits like Le freak, c’est chic or The End. The song that comes up the most is La Valse à mille temps, by Brel.
Little schemes follow one another. This involves recovering furniture from individuals. That’s no reason to end up with a stuffed dog on your hands. What wouldn’t they do to please Noémie Merlant, who confirms her comic talent already spotted in L’Innocent.
This daddy’s girl has principles. She lives in a chic district, but her huge apartment is empty. Naturally (the adverb is necessary), she is vegan. The friends immediately go on a diet. Their eagerness makes a comrade who is wary of these dildos jealous. They let themselves be convinced little by little, spraying the steps of the Trocadéro with red paint, occupying the Bank of France, blocking traffic, stopping a Boeing on the runway before takeoff.
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A total absence of cynicism bathes this good-natured column. Emotion even arises when Jonathan Cohen, decidedly unavoidable, offers a bottle of perfume (opened) to his ex-wife. Marmaï plays panicked. Amalric, as a financial advisor, forgets – a recurring gag – that he is banned from casinos. Noémie Merlant is a twisting pasionaria. The ending, touching and elegiac, recalls the sweet sequence of confinement. Let’s imitate the madmen and grab a megaphone to chant: “Finally a funny and not vulgar French film! »
