A very smart French comedy with fantastic elements

abisio

Les Deux Mondes is another intelligent French comedy, this times using fantastic elements (like multi dimension traveling) but mostly interested on human behavior and social acceptance. Remy, (the outstanding and always restrained Benoît Poelvoorde) is a common passive person. He works as an art restaurateur, but expend most of his time taking care of his kids while his wife (one of those big idealist) is trying to save the world, traveling around with a handsome doctor, but forgetting his family completely. In a different universe, a tribe under slavery is conjuring magic to get the great wizard who will defeat and kill the giant king terrorizing them and free them. Yes, as you probably imagined, Remy is the great wizard and savior. Traveling from one world to the other constantly, Remy has to deal with his upcoming divorce (his wife is leaving him for the handsome doctor), his kids, and his debtors and try to learn how to defeat another army and become king of a tribe. He even buys some gym equipment and start eating special proteins to create some muscle. Up to this moment, there is some kind of déjà vu in the story, but suddenly (after the enemy tribe is defeated), things get an unexpected turn and Remy has to re-think about his new personality. By the end, the movie does not quite follows the American's politically correct rule of moral endings.

The technicall aspects are quite good, including some original and very funny FX.

In brief, a very original comedy; but deeper than you may think.

score 8/10

abisio 7 June 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1888036/