Pas si grave (2003) - film review

Léo, Max and Charlie are three very different young men who were adopted at the age of five by Pablo, a Spanish immigrant.  Pablo, an exile living in Belgium, hasn’t set foot in his country since the time of the Civil War, but persuades his three adopted sons to go there to recover a cherished statue.  Far from being a wild goose chase, the three brothers have quite an adventure, thanks to an attractive surgeon Angela and a captain in the Guardia Civil.

After his earlier dark psychological dramas – Tiré à part (1996) and Une affaire de goût (2000) – the journalist-turned-director Bernard Rapp makes a radical, and surprising, change of tack for his third film, Pas si grave.  Superficially, the film evokes the lightness and sunny aspect of Rapp’s younger contemporaries (Cédric Klapisch springs to mind).  Indeed, the film has one or two strong selling points – some pleasing comedy, some nice location photography and excellent contributions from the three male leads (Sami Bouajila, Romain Duris and Jean-Michel Portal).  Alas, the film’s charms are pretty well skin-deep – there isn’t a great deal of depth to the characterisation and the direction, like the script, feels lazy, half-hearted and aimless.  Whilst it is not as inspired and as satisfying as Rapp’s other three cinematic offerings, Pas si grave is still worth watching, as a light-hearted, gentle reflection on life and personal identity.

© James Travers 2007

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