Tellement proches (2009) - film review

When Alain married Nathalie, he had no idea that he was also marrying her family.  Each Saturday, the couple are dutifully bound to spend their evening with Nathalie’s brother, Jean-Pierre, and his wife, Catherine, who consider themselves the perfect example of marital felicity.  By now, Alain has had enough of these dinner soirees from Hell.  He has had enough of Jean-Pierre, Catherine and the whole excruciating ritual of being convivial to people he loathes.  If he could get out of this weekly nightmarish commitment... .  His only comfort is that, by now, he knows what to expect from these ghastly evenings chez Jean-Pierre.  There are no longer any nasty surprises; the depths of boredom, revulsion and horror have well and truly been plumbed.  How wrong he is...

The existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre was only half-right when he said that Hell is other people.  He would have been nearer the mark if he had observed that Hell is other people’s families, as this latest anarchic comedy from the writer-director team Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano bears out.  Tellement proches is the third and most deliriously unhinged offering from this talented duo, who had previously scored notable successes with Je préfère qu'on reste amis (2005) and Nos jours heureux (2006).  

Tellement proches is not the most sophisticated of French comedies.  It starts in the wonderful world of Ikea and within the space of a few short minutes it pretty well exhausts every cliché known to man about this marvellous family-friendly outfit.  Then we have the dinner party from Hell, which again serves up more reheated clichés than most people can stomach without reaching for the calcium tablets.  After that, there is a flurry of increasingly surreal episodes which only just about manage to cling on to the anorexic skeleton that pretends to be a storyline.  The film is set in the 1990s (for reasons which only become apparent towards the end) and it feels as if it was actually made in that decade.  However, despite all its failings, this still manages to be a highly entertaining film that is hilariously funny in places, all the more so for its totally evil streak of political incorrectness.

Vincent Elbaz and Isabelle Carré are considered serious actors, best known for straight dramatic roles, but here they both show a distinct flair for comedy.  In this fun-filled romp, Elbaz is the retarded adolescent who is struggling to make the transition from Club Med host to modern man, whilst Carré is the stressed housewife who collects Pakistani refugees for a hobby.  The comedy quadrille is completed by Xavier Demaison and Audrey Dana as the in-laws from Hell, the couple who are prepared to change their religion to get their child into a better school and whose idea of a  good night’s entertainment is to watch their wedding video for the three thousandth time.  No doubt  the characters are ever so slightly caricatured, but they are affectionately and convincingly played by these four talented actors, so you can watch their exploits without feeling too guilty.   Nakache and Toledano’s previous films are more coherent and better scripted, but Tellement proches is, for all its sins, much more fun, and such a good advertisement for Ikea.

© James Travers 2010

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