In the vein of biting political satires like 'In the loop' and 'Veep' (both having a lot of talent in common, both in front of, and behind the camera) and maybe even yesteryear's 'Yes, Minister', this work of art, based on a popular French graphic novel (informed by this movie's curator at the viewing venue) is as entertaining as those other works are.
This also has similarities to the Michael Keaton | Geena Davis starrer, 'Speechless' (which could've had more bite, to be honest).
There is also a lot of insight that seems to have gone into creating some timely and topical content (and I don't just refer to the running gag with the funny acronym for 'NATO') wrt France and its role in World politics, while keeping the tropes of the genre the same - viz, wheels-within-wheels, political machinations, permanently and consistently dealing only in abstractions, heavy impact from minuscule statements (something that literally drove 'In the loop') etc.
The movie also shines a light into the personal lives of a few of our leads, also (in my opinion) boldly touching on how personal recommendations from proximity to powerful people is the only way to get quite a few things done, regardless of geo.
The little things, that kept running throughout unflaggingly, really did it for me - the minister's entrance always disrupting various papers all the time, his tech-savviness or lack thereof (there's a really juvie gag on board the equivalent of AFO, where in spite of the juvie nature of the whole thing, it works big-time, in eliciting more than just guffaws - that, in addn to the juvie-level awkward high-5 moment), one lead character nodding off during meetings (with the Minister being completely oblivious to it - or is he?), airport-venue car seating allocations and its impact (something I thought would go in a different direction, but did not, and while that might not have worked in a lesser flick, in this one, it seemed like the makers took the high road, and I absolutely loved it), each para/statement needing to highlight a particular attribute, the minister's dad reflecting on 'those days' at possibly the most inopportune time possible, the 'fixer's' secretary ensuring that her boss' instructions are carried out (which keeping a caring, motherly eye on him), the running gag about the highlighter (hilarious, to say the least) and much, much more.......
There is one sequence, in a restaurant, which has been choreographed like an elaborate fight sequence, or a dance move, or for the local audiences, something from a daytime soap (in terms of quick cuts from various camera positions, for varying perspectives, to provide greater impact) that is, by itself, imho, the price of admission. It goes on for a bit, and is hilarious, to say the least. If French was my native language of communication, it might have had greater impact, but both the acting, staging and eventual sub-titling are so good, that we could only marvel at the feat.
Thierry Lhermitte, a la Tom Hollander (In the loop), is your typical foggy minister, but seems to more brains than he;s given credit for. It also shows the Red-Blue mix of bureaucrats around this seemingly conservative politician, who all have 1 goal, seemingly the minister's agenda, and the various tools and methods they use at their disposal to realize it, or a part of it.
Veteran chameleon actor Niels Arestrup, playing the Peter Capaldi 'fixer' role, make it his own by doing completely the opposite of what Capaldi became known for, and yet captures every scene he's in, without being as showy, and showing us why it is not completely necessary (love Cpaaldi's interpretation of that character though).
Our 'in' is the main (not really) naïve character, played by L'Affaire SK1's Raphaël Personnaz (to be fair, this is what he did before), and the makers let this character breathe, and we always use his perspective to view the various goings-on. His being castigated, his initial disbelief, his being a 'fish outta water' - everything, not just makes us root for this lead, but also gives us the perspective needed not just to get entertained, but also be informed, and maybe even take sides.
Julie Gayet, is as effective as she is attractive, and her come-ons to various colleagues, and political courtship rituals are a hoot.
The bureaucrat singing bawdy songs (inspired by Gayet's character's rituals, of course), that become popular even in the lead's household, seemed to me, to be a fantastic touch on the part of the makers to liven things up more, and it's great that they kept it as a running gag almost 3-4 times.
Not to be missed, and worth repeated viewings.
This also has similarities to the Michael Keaton | Geena Davis starrer, 'Speechless' (which could've had more bite, to be honest).
There is also a lot of insight that seems to have gone into creating some timely and topical content (and I don't just refer to the running gag with the funny acronym for 'NATO') wrt France and its role in World politics, while keeping the tropes of the genre the same - viz, wheels-within-wheels, political machinations, permanently and consistently dealing only in abstractions, heavy impact from minuscule statements (something that literally drove 'In the loop') etc.
The movie also shines a light into the personal lives of a few of our leads, also (in my opinion) boldly touching on how personal recommendations from proximity to powerful people is the only way to get quite a few things done, regardless of geo.
The little things, that kept running throughout unflaggingly, really did it for me - the minister's entrance always disrupting various papers all the time, his tech-savviness or lack thereof (there's a really juvie gag on board the equivalent of AFO, where in spite of the juvie nature of the whole thing, it works big-time, in eliciting more than just guffaws - that, in addn to the juvie-level awkward high-5 moment), one lead character nodding off during meetings (with the Minister being completely oblivious to it - or is he?), airport-venue car seating allocations and its impact (something I thought would go in a different direction, but did not, and while that might not have worked in a lesser flick, in this one, it seemed like the makers took the high road, and I absolutely loved it), each para/statement needing to highlight a particular attribute, the minister's dad reflecting on 'those days' at possibly the most inopportune time possible, the 'fixer's' secretary ensuring that her boss' instructions are carried out (which keeping a caring, motherly eye on him), the running gag about the highlighter (hilarious, to say the least) and much, much more.......
There is one sequence, in a restaurant, which has been choreographed like an elaborate fight sequence, or a dance move, or for the local audiences, something from a daytime soap (in terms of quick cuts from various camera positions, for varying perspectives, to provide greater impact) that is, by itself, imho, the price of admission. It goes on for a bit, and is hilarious, to say the least. If French was my native language of communication, it might have had greater impact, but both the acting, staging and eventual sub-titling are so good, that we could only marvel at the feat.
Thierry Lhermitte, a la Tom Hollander (In the loop), is your typical foggy minister, but seems to more brains than he;s given credit for. It also shows the Red-Blue mix of bureaucrats around this seemingly conservative politician, who all have 1 goal, seemingly the minister's agenda, and the various tools and methods they use at their disposal to realize it, or a part of it.
Veteran chameleon actor Niels Arestrup, playing the Peter Capaldi 'fixer' role, make it his own by doing completely the opposite of what Capaldi became known for, and yet captures every scene he's in, without being as showy, and showing us why it is not completely necessary (love Cpaaldi's interpretation of that character though).
Our 'in' is the main (not really) naïve character, played by L'Affaire SK1's Raphaël Personnaz (to be fair, this is what he did before), and the makers let this character breathe, and we always use his perspective to view the various goings-on. His being castigated, his initial disbelief, his being a 'fish outta water' - everything, not just makes us root for this lead, but also gives us the perspective needed not just to get entertained, but also be informed, and maybe even take sides.
Julie Gayet, is as effective as she is attractive, and her come-ons to various colleagues, and political courtship rituals are a hoot.
The bureaucrat singing bawdy songs (inspired by Gayet's character's rituals, of course), that become popular even in the lead's household, seemed to me, to be a fantastic touch on the part of the makers to liven things up more, and it's great that they kept it as a running gag almost 3-4 times.
Not to be missed, and worth repeated viewings.