Mon idole (2002) - film review

Bastien, young and ambitious production assistant for a popular reality TV programme, is offended when his employer, the star presenter Philippe Letzger, steals his idea for a new programme.   He takes his complaint to Jean-Louis Broustal, the TV station’s headman, and is surprised when Broustal invites him to spend the weekend at his country estate.  Expecting this to be just the boost his career needs, Bastien accepts the offer, but instead of discussing work with his future employer he finds himself drawn into the increasingly bizarre domestic routine of Broustal and his implausibly young wife…

This entertaining (and surprisingly dark) satirical thriller about reality TV and megalomaniac TV executives officially marks the directorial debut of one of France’s most promising acting talents, Guillaume Canet.  The streak of jet black comedy running through the film, rendering some of its more burlesque sequences actually rather disturbing, reminds one of François Ozon’s early films (notably Sitcom), but Canet’s style is markedly different – less stylised, often much closer to reality as we know it, and therefore a tad more unsettling.

Canet both stars and directs this film – a risky venture for a first film, but one that certainly pays off.  His character resembles the one he played in Philippe Haïm’s oddball comedy thriller Barracuda (1997) (from which he also appears to have "borrowed" much of the plot and style), but Canet does show considerable promise as a director.  Although the central plot is hardly original, many of the jokes are, and, whilst much of the comedy is intentionally downplayed, there are many genuinely funny moments (plus a few that may turn your stomach).

François Berléand is superlative as the film’s principal villain, the mad, bad or just dangerous to know TV boss Jean-Louis Broustal.  Berléand’s portrayal would not be out of place in a Claude Chabrol film – initially presented as a hard-nosed bland executive, his character gradually metamorphoses into something much more interesting, indeed terrifying, a being with no moral limits whatsoever.  Cleverly, Canet takes the general public perception of the TV godfather and turns the general, oft-maligned hate figure into a kind of fairytale bogey man, without undermining the credibility of either the character or the situation.  Throughout, what we see is exactly how we expect TV executives to behave.  Broustal could have gone on to annexe half of Europe and made the wearing paper hats at Christmas compulsory and he still wouldn’t have been acting out of character.  Not even politicians can hope to engender that level of cynicism.

With such stars as Canet and Berléand giving their best, Mon idole races along at quite a pace, managing to be funny, thrilling and weirdly unpredictable throughout.  Unfortunately, the whole thing runs out of steam too quickly and the understated ending is a slight disappointment.   For such an energetic and character-intense film, you are led to expect a far more explosive finale than a somewhat muted static showdown followed by a pretty piece of animation.  However, taken as a whole, Mon idole hangs together rather well, a stylish and intelligent blend of black comedy and satire.  It augurs well for Guillaume Canet’s future career as a director.

© James Travers 2006

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