Film Review
Christopher Thompson first entered the world of French cinema in the
late 1990s at the age of 29, co-scripting a film (
La Bûche)
directed by his mother, Danièle Thompson, daughter of
the esteemed director Gérard Oury.
Subsequently, he helped to pen his mother's popular comdies
Décalage horaire (2002) and
Fauteuils d'orchestre (2006).
Now, after pursuing a busy career as a screenwriter and actor for the past
decade, Thompson
fils makes his directing debut, with a subject dear to his heart:
the rise and fall of a popular boy band of the 1980s.
Bus Palladium is a likeable film that
shows some promise on both the writing and directing fronts
but it suffers by comparison with other films that tread the same
ground with more in-depth knowledge and sophistication, and it
struggles at times to get beyond the merely superficial.
On the plus side, the film is remarkably authentic in its depiction of
the 1980s, a much-maligned decade that is enjoying something of a
nostalgia boost at the moment. Sandwiched between the hideous
garishness of the tacky seventies and the terminal blandness of the
narcissistic nineties, the eighties were marked by cultural
renaissances in many fields, most notably popular music, and Thompson's
film vividly evokes this sense of renewal, carried by the youth of the
day, in his film. Unfortunately, Thompson appears content merely
to play with overly familiar clichés and so, as evocative as the
film is, there seems to be nothing beneath the surface. The main
protagonists (despite some very credible performances from a promising
bunch of young actors which include Marc-André Grondin,
who previously made his mark in the comedy
C.R.A.Z.Y.)
are equally shallow, and their trajectory too
predictable to hold much interest.
Bus Palladium delivers a no frills
eighties fix for anyone who needs it, but not much more.
© James Travers 2013
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Lucas, Philippe, Manu, Mario and Jacob are three childhood friends who have
a shared passion for rock music. They form a band and within no time
the five friends are en route for stardom. All that threatens their
success are their individual aspirations. They could well be the next
rock phenomenon, but already the cracks have started to appear in their common
purpose. When Laura enters the fray, competing rivalries look set to
strain the delicate equilibrium of the group further, until all of their
dreams are placed at risk...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.