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An average movie

Posted : 3 years, 11 months ago on 22 April 2020 08:31

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing.  Well, as usual with Nakache et Toledano, even though this movie definitely had some potential, I still ended up with some mixed feelings. Indeed, they were dealing here with a very interesting subject, something much more topical than their monster hit ‘Intouchables’, but their approach seemed rather misguided. Indeed, they took a real tragic situation impacting so many people around the world and turned it into some kind of Cinderella story during which a helpless black man falls in love with a relatively wealthy white woman. Another thing that bothered me was that Charlotte Gainsbourg’s character was just so cluelessly annoying. In the 2nd half, her background was finally explained but I think it was a mistake to give such crucial details about her so late as it partially ruined this character. Another disappointing character was Jonas. Indeed, at first, the guy seemed to be interesting but, eventually, he turned out to be a gimmick so they could reach a specific goal at the end. And yet, there were some good stuff in this flick. Indeed, some other characters like Manu and Walid AKA Wilson were really good and, above all, Omar Sy was again so charismatic and just really convincing. Furthermore, the subject of this movie was really interesting but the makers, like they did in ‘Intouchables’, tried too hard to squeeze a harsh reality into a feel-good feature but it never really worked in my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.  



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Samba review

Posted : 8 years, 7 months ago on 7 August 2015 07:12

Initial Thought: Honestly this looked like a good story. I never saw the Intouchables movie though. The main actors looked great. The main reason I ended up watching it while it is in theaters is for my major Ethiopian crush Liya Kebede.

Characters/Acting: So Liya Kebede is what pulled me into this. To my disappointment she was in maybe five minutes of the whole thing. Her name was credited on the poster so I thought she would be a major character. While she isn't in the whole thing her character does have a lasting impression. Omar Sy is amazing. I've only seen him in Jurassic World and X-Men: Days of Future Past, but he really outshines himself here. He kind of reminds of a French Idris Elba. Charlotte Gainsbourg is a unique beauty. I absolutely adored her character here. She tends to play quite damaged characters. I think Izia Higelin is my new crush though. She is a total hottie here and plays an interesting supporting character. They always end up being superb. Tahar Rahim who plays the buddy here is a fun character.

Story: Samba migrated to France ten years ago from Senegal, and has since been plugging away at various lowly jobs. Alice is a senior executive who has recently undergone a burn-out. Both struggle to get out of their dead-end lives. Samba's willing to do whatever it takes to get working papers, while Alice tries to get her life back on track until fate draws them together. The struggles Samba deals with here really reminds me of my situation with my wife. It feels like the government doesn't give a crap about love and only wants to make money any way they can. We see a man who struggles living in a country he loves to help his family in a country that isn't easy. I know the feeling. While the topic and most of the movie is serious there are moments of humor throughout. There were some moments I didn't expect would happen. The continuity was excellent. The ending was absolutely great.

Directing/Writing: I haven't seen any of writer/directors Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache's work. Now that I have though I wish I'd seen them sooner. At least if their work is like this. They really drew me in with a subject that spoke to me as I've dealt with a slightly similar situation. I didn't know this was based off of a book. What isn't these days though? Anyways everyone did a wonderful job bringing this story to life.

Final Thoughts: I came for Liya Kebede, but the story and performances made me stay. This was such a well done film. It's tragic. It's realistic. It's honest. I doubt they could of made it any better other than having Liya Kebede being in a lot more lol. I highly recommend this one. This might just be a contender for the foreign film Oscar just like the Intouchables should have been.


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