Feel-good film on feel-bad bane
THE INTOUCHABLES
DIRECTORS: Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache CAST: Francois Cluzet, Omar Sy, Cyril Mendy CLASSIFICATION: 16 LD RUNNING TIME: 112 minutes RATING: ★★★✩✩ set-up. The two go for breakneck car rides, goof around with shaving cream and, in general, have a great time.
Some of this is due to Philippe’s preference that his caregiver not feel sorry for him. And so Driss dutifully obliges, as does the movie, written and directed by the film-making duo of Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache ( Tellement Proches). One disturbing scene, played for laughs, shows Driss pouring scalding tea on Philippe’s leg to test whether his employer can feel anything.
That it doesn’t get bogged down in a pity party is the film’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness. On one hand, The Intouchables is to be commended for portraying Philippe as a fully rounded person – a man who is more than his medical condition.
Philippe can take a joke, even if he’s the butt of it. But it’s also more than a little unrealistic.
Another troubling aspect is Driss’s role in the narrative, which comes dangerously close to what’s known as the “Magic Negro” syndrome. Driss, whose primary function seems to be as a conduit for Philippe to reconnect with the life force he’s forgotten, could use a little less condescension to avoid becoming a racial cliché. Although the film glances at the world of drugs, crime, unemployment and poverty out of which Driss comes – mostly through a subplot involving his troubled young relative (Cyril Mendy) – for the most part it glosses over unpleasantness.
Maybe that’s what people like about the movie. Neither Driss’s condition nor Philippe’s is seen as defining or even especially limiting. Without being overtly political, there’s a whiff of conservative self-reliance throughout The Intouchables.
That said, there are also a few nice, if vaguely Odd Couple- ish moments. A scene in which Philippe drags Driss to a four-hour opera is pretty funny. And another – during which Driss loosens up Philippe’s stodgy birthday party by dancing to Earth, Wind & Fire’s Boogie Wonderland – is fairly heartbreaking, if only for the look of joy and longing on Philippe’s face.
Cluzet, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Dustin Hoffman, was nominated for a best actor Cesar. He probably deserves it as much as Sy, who took home that prize.
The lens through which The Intouchables was filmed may be too rose-coloured for some people’s taste, but the window that these talented performers throw open – a window on to the strange and touching friendship between two very different men – is crystal clear. – Washington Post