Le Fils du Français (1999) - film review

Since the death of his mother, nine-year-old Benjamin finds himself tossed like a pillow between his two grand-mothers, Anne and Suzanne, who cannot stand each other.  Meanwhile, Benjamin’s father Christian is busy making his fortune in South America.  One day, Benjamin is delighted when he receives an invitation from his father to stay with him in Brazil, accompanied by his two battling grandmothers.  When they arrive at Christian’s house in Brazil, it is deserted.  It is at this point that Benjamin reveals that on the day before their departure, his father rang to cancel the visit...

The casting of two French cinema divas – Fanny Ardant and Josiane Balasko – is not enough to save this ill-conceived and poorly executed mishmash of comédie burlesque and action-thriller.  The refined Ardant looks horribly out of place in this kind of juvenile exploit in which Balasko is reduced to reprising yet again her highly caricatured display of working class femininity at its most vulgar.  Gérard Lauzier’s direction is poor, but his biggest offence is his rambling, cliché-sodden screenplay.  This film is nothing more than a pale imitation of those popular French comedy adventure films of the ’70s and ’80s, such as La Chèvre.


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