A young pater familias dislikes cars, considering them an annoying, wasteful and polluting form of transport. As a result he travels mainly by bicycle or by train. However, things change after he receives a job promotion which requires him to commute to a distant city. Soon our hero is wandering the deserted nighttime streets of France, bleating pitifully for help. Will he respond to the siren calls of his brother-in-law, a garage owner who lives for anything on four wheels ?
I've got to say that I found the first half of the movie very relatable, because I'm one of these people who dislike automobiles, for a wide variety of reasons. Never having owned a car I travel mainly by train, which, believe you me, is no job for the faint-hearted here in my part of the world. Most people have been understanding of this choice, although I've met my share of interlocutors who stared at me with the kind of fearful distrust one reserves for the feeble-minded or the mentally ill. ("So she doesn't drive. What's next ? Does she eat grass ? Is she house-broken ? In God's name, she's not about to dance naked on the table, now is she ?")
Other viewers too will recognize some of the situations, such as those unfortunate souls who find it difficult to obtain or keep a driver's license.
"Le permis" is watchable, it's pleasantly amusing, but it's not a gem or a masterwork. There's a nice cast giving decent performances and there's an agreeable evocation of everyday life in 1970's France, but both the screenplay and the various gags need more verve, more bite, more polish. The comedic timing too could be better.
One of the funniest bits is the part where the hero/antihero gets asked to drive a heavily pregnant woman to hospital, pronto. The result is a hellish ride where the driver gets applauded, by the very police, for casting all prudence aside and going fully Formula One. The scene reminded me a lot of a similar scene in "L'emmerdeur", which, I seem to remember, featured both Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel. ("L'emmerdeur" is the better film, so you know what to watch...)
I've got to say that I found the first half of the movie very relatable, because I'm one of these people who dislike automobiles, for a wide variety of reasons. Never having owned a car I travel mainly by train, which, believe you me, is no job for the faint-hearted here in my part of the world. Most people have been understanding of this choice, although I've met my share of interlocutors who stared at me with the kind of fearful distrust one reserves for the feeble-minded or the mentally ill. ("So she doesn't drive. What's next ? Does she eat grass ? Is she house-broken ? In God's name, she's not about to dance naked on the table, now is she ?")
Other viewers too will recognize some of the situations, such as those unfortunate souls who find it difficult to obtain or keep a driver's license.
"Le permis" is watchable, it's pleasantly amusing, but it's not a gem or a masterwork. There's a nice cast giving decent performances and there's an agreeable evocation of everyday life in 1970's France, but both the screenplay and the various gags need more verve, more bite, more polish. The comedic timing too could be better.
One of the funniest bits is the part where the hero/antihero gets asked to drive a heavily pregnant woman to hospital, pronto. The result is a hellish ride where the driver gets applauded, by the very police, for casting all prudence aside and going fully Formula One. The scene reminded me a lot of a similar scene in "L'emmerdeur", which, I seem to remember, featured both Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel. ("L'emmerdeur" is the better film, so you know what to watch...)