Film Review
Thierry Lhermitte and Miou-Miou top the bill in this well-intended but somewhat over-the-top
thriller parody from director Claude Zidi. Although there are a few very funny comic
sequences, and the basic premise of the film is an appealing one, Zidi doesn't quite
manage to pull this one off. (Lhermitte's previous collaboration with Zidi,
Les
Ripoux (1984) is a much better film.) The pace of the film is uneven,
some of the dialogue is painfully trite, and the parody sequences are too “obvious”
to be really effective. That said, there are a few plus points. Michel
Boujenah is terrific as the mysterious Simon (is he Arthur Daley's apprentice or Osama
Bin Laden's second lieutenant?), the episode with the bugged handbag is hilarious, and
the scene near the end where Miou-Miou is accidentally transformed in "Mrs Terminator"
has to be seen to be believed. Not the most sophisticated or well-oiled of comedy
thrillers, but
La Totale! just about passes
for entertainment.
As often happens with popular French comedies, an American re-make of the film hit
the screens a few years later. Directed by James Cameron and starring none other
than Arnold Schwarzenegger,
True Lies (1994)
proved to be an international hit, and a rare exception of an American re-make being better
than the original French film that inspired it.
© James Travers 2005
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Claude Zidi film:
Profil bas (1993)
Film Synopsis
To all who know him, François Voisin is nothing more than an ordinary
family man and telecoms engineer. In reality, he is an experienced
secret agent whose improbable exploits of the past two decades could fill
the pages of several long (albeit mediocre) thriller novels. By exercising
remarkable self-restraint, François has been able to keep his profession
a secret from his family and friends, but this becomes difficult when he
learns that his wife Hélène has been cheating on him and his
son Julien has been bunking off school. Curious to know where his son
goes when he is not in the classroom, François has his him followed
and then sets about spying on his wife's secret assignations by using all
the tricks of his trade.
With the help of the latest in surveillance equipment, François learns
that his wife's mysterious lover is a used car salesman named Marcel, a mythomaniac
who tries to pass himself off as an international terrorist. This gives
the jealous husband an idea for winning his wife back, by getting her to
play the role of a secret agent. Things go badly wrong when Hélène
is abducted by a notorious gangster, Sarris, who has apparently been on the
French security services' radar for some time. After he is himself
captured, François is bundled into a plane with his wife and taken
to an unknown destination in the Middle East. The adventure has a few
more unexpected twists and turns before it arrives at its highly implausible
conclusion...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.