Well done dramedy

Bantam

A comedy is a tragedy, that does not concern you. Like when we see a person trip and fall. We laugh. For them it's most certainly not funny.

The movie itself borrows from (or was inspired by) the adaptation of Carnage by Polanski. A group of five long-time friends (some are family) get together for an evening of food and wine.

Vincent (Bruel - a fine French actor, btw.) tries to push the buttons of his liberal lefty brother-in-law, Pierre, for personal amusement. He tells Pierre, that he (Vincent) and his wife (Anna) are planning to call their first-born son 'Adolphe'. The exchange between them leads, almost inevitably, to a heated conversation about naming conventions, perceptions of names and ultimately into a meta-discussion about values and bigotry. Mind you, Pierre's children are called Appolin and Myrtille (in the translated version she was named Melody).

The evening goes totally south from there, with everybody having some sort of beef with each other- and not holding back at spilling the beans. There is a lot of resentment, and a lot of venom flying all over. However, the movie ends on a happy note.

Since almost the entire movie takes place in the apartment of Pierre and Elisabeth, it solely relies on the interaction between the characters. And this is what makes the movie great, IMO. The exchanges are really well written, witty and funny. They are also very hurtful, most of them are nasty blows below the belt. This is the part that makes it real fun to watch. Even though most of the dialogue is a kick in the teeth, it is still poignant and delivered with panache. A real treat to watch. I would have loved to watch them in French, but this would have been a waste. However, the translation was superb from what I could gather. It's not easy to make a good movie that is solely dialogue-driven, but this one pulls it off.

As mentioned, since it did not concern me, the entire 'bouquet' of dialogue (insults, innuendos, allegations and hard truths) did really made laugh. A fantastic piece of French comedy with subtle undercurrents and punches aimed at the idyllic suburban life of the (upper?) middle- class. In short: one of the best dramedys I've seen in some time. Well written, well acted and directed! I only realised after checking it, that the team behind this one did also: Bis (2015), L'immortel (2010) and Renaissance (2006). If you want some seriously funny French cinema, grab it.

score 8/10

Bantam 4 February 2016

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3408714/