Film Review
It wasn't until his fourth feature that director Fabien Onteniente struck
lucky at the French box office, attracting an audience of just under two
million with his outrageous send-up of celebrity culture. With a strong
cast that places rising star Guillaume Gallienne in the company of such established
performers as Lambert Wilson and José Garcia, the film certainly wasn't
short on mainstream appeal, and if any subject is ripe for no-holds-barred
lampooning this is surely it.
Unfortunately, Onteniente is too lightweight and commercially minded a filmmaker
to make even a half-decent fist at mining more than a tiny fraction of the
film's comedic potential. So whilst
Jet Set has some entertainment
value (Wilson's gloriously over-the-top portrayal of a Grade A celebrity
twat being particularly memorable) it doesn't really does justice to its
subject. There's not much to commend on either the plot or characterisation
fronts - both are lamentable casualties of a script which looks as if it
was written in far too great a hurry.
Onteniente's direction, is as ever, over-confident and crass, with several
potentially funny scenes falling hopelessly flat despite the superabundance
of comedy grenades scattered all over the set.
Jet Set is just
too complacent and superficial, as grimly self-satisfied as its authors,
to make the grade as an effective satire, although with the help of a suitably
intoxicating beverage, it does have its moments of hilarity. At least
the film is far more tolerable than its misguided follow-up,
People (2004), which was enough to turn
even the most forgiving of critics into venom-spitting Rottweillers.
Onteniente was on much safer ground with his next film,
Camping (2006), the unlikely holiday-themed
hit that spawned a seemingly endless string of increasingly inept sequels.
© James Travers 2019
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Fabien Onteniente film:
3 zéros (2002)
Film Synopsis
Jimmy and Fifi are two friends who are happily running a trendy bar in
the suburbs of Paris when disaster strikes. As the threat of bankruptcy
looms ever nearer, Jimmy decides that desperate steps need to be taken.
He has the brainwave of making his modest hostelry a haven for the rich and
famous. Unfortunately, Jimmy has no contacts with the so-called Jet
Set, so he turns to his friend Mike to help him out. By taking on the
guise of a Tasmanian prince, Mike gains access to a charity ball where he
has ample opportunity to ingratiate himself with the crème de la crème
of the showbiz world.
Mike's disguise doesn't fool everyone, however. One man who is not
taken in is the self-styled celebrity Arthus de Poulignac. Realising
that he can have some fun with the faux prince, the latter makes a pretence
of playing along with Mike's inept deception. Before he know it, Mike
is well on his way to become a fully paid up member of a very exclusive club,
but being in with the jet set is not quite what he had imagined. What
started out as an innocent amusement intended to help a friend in need soon
becomes something far more serious. Mike is about to become acquainted
with a basic rule of physics: what goes up must inevitably come down...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.