Review of Samba

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.