Film Review
La Colle is the fifth feature to be directed by Alexandre Castagnetti,
an amiable teen comedy that makes the most of its 'stolen' premise from Harold
Ramis's classic
Groundhog Day
(1993). In common with Castagnetti's earlier screen offerings - including
the exuberant rom-com
Amour
et Turbulences (2013) and his lively comic book adaptation
Tamara (2016) - the critics were pretty
unkind to the film and were quick to write it off as flimsy and derivative.
La Colle may not be the most inspired or original of comedies, but
it has more than a modicum of entertainment value. The main thing in
its favour is that it manages to keep up its good-natured humour from start
to finish without descending into the kind of crass inanity and vulgarity
that is exhibited by too many mainstream French comedies these days.
In contrast to Castagnetti's earlier films, there are no big name actors
in the cast, just an ensemble of promising newcomers who make the most of
the so-so material they are given. The lead actors Arthur Mazet (previously
seen in Paul Verhoeven's 2016 highly regarded film
Elle) and Karidja Touré carry the
film well, both highly sympathetic as the love-sick student trapped in a
time-warp and the object of his teenage crush. Where the film does
fall down a little is with its coterie of secondary characters, who tend
to be caricatured and prone to acting like participants in a Disney cartoon.
Fortunately, there are enough humorous situations and scripted gags to prevent
the film's tenuous grip on reality from ever becoming irksome. Providing
you are not expecting it to be a comic masterpiece
La Colle will not
disappoint - it's a sweet little fantasy that you just can't help falling
for.
© James Travers 2017
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Benjamin is understandably miffed when he lands himself a two-hour Saturday
detention, but at least the sourness of the occasion is tempered by the fact
that Leila, the girl he secretly has a crush on, is to share it with him.
Even better, she has to sit next to him as he is the only one to have brought
his maths book. It is like a dream come true when the most beautiful
girl in the class sits down at the desk next to him. To Benjamin's
surprise, the exquisite meeting is replayed exactly when he comes back from
the toilets and returns to his desk.
Fantastic as it may seem, the
adolescent has somehow managed to get himself stuck in a time loop, his unexpected
encounter with Leila being replayed over and over again every time he is
away from her for more than three minutes. It finally dawns on
Benjamin how he got himself into this bizarre predicament. The web
genie Akinator has obviously granted him his wish that he and Leila should
be together forever. It seems that there is no way out of the private
hell that Alex has created for himself. It's Groundhog Day all over
again...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.