Film Review
Le Coach is the classic French comedy revolving around two ill-matched
individuals who get themselves trapped in a strained, often antagonistic
relationship. The most memorable examples of the genre were scripted
and/or directed by Francis Veber - classics such as
L'Emmerdeur (1973),
La Chèvre (1981) and
Le Dîner de cons
(1998) - but the formula abounds in French comedy, from
La Grande vadrouile
(1966) to
Intouchables (2011).
Le Coach successfully reworks this well-used device into a modern
fable, in which a latter-day Svengali has his work cut out turning the most
pathetic office mouse into the fiercest of corporate lions.
The third film in twelve years to be directed by Olivier Doran, this is a
significant improvement on his earlier comedies
Le Déménagement
(1997) and
Pur Week-end (2007).
Le Coach is hardly the most inspired of films - the script lacks imagination,
the gags are mostly predictable - and it would probably have fallen flat
on its face were it not for its one killer ingredient - the brilliant casting
of Richard Berry and Jean-Paul Rouve in the lead roles. As in Veber's
earlier comedies, the rapport between the two leads is the main factor that
decides whether the film wins or fails, and here the rapport is pitch perfect.
Berry and Rouve are not only fine comic performers, they are also each very
capable dramatic actors. Consequently, they bring a subtlety and depth
to their performances which more than makes up for the scripting inadequacies.
You can hardly imagine a more contrasting pair - Berry plays the silky smooth,
über-confident manipulator as effortlessly as Rouve does the contemptible
but sympathetic ninny - and this is what makes
Le Coach work so well,
preventing it from being just another silly French comedy.
When the pendulum swings the other way, and Berry appears the insecure one,
saved from his accumulating crises by the now visibly transformed Rouve,
the actors take us with them and we hardly notice how ludicrously implausible
the plot has become.
Le Coach is sorely lacking in both the
writing and directing departments, but its two lead actors perform a remarkable
salvage operation on it, injecting humour and humanity aplenty into a film
that turns out to be far more enjoyable than you might imagine. It's
not in the league of
L'Emmerdeur, but it is still great fun.
© James Travers 2016
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Film Synopsis
Maximilien Chêne is a personal coach who is a master of his craft,
but whilst his talents are in great demand he has many personal failings
of his own. For one thing, he is a compulsive gambler, and it is because
he is up to his eyes in debt that his wife threw him out of their house.
When fate throws him a lifeline, he grasps it with both hands: his latest
mission is to turn diffident office boy Patrick Marmignon into an assertive
and confident executive so that he can win a lucrative Japanese contract.
Marmignon's boss points out to Chêne that Marmignon is the nephew of
the man who owns the company, one of the biggest firms in France. For
that reason, Marmignon must never know that he is being coached. With
his creditors breathing down his neck, Chêne has no option but to accept
the challenge, but he soon begins to regret it. Marmignon not only
has no trace of killer instinct, he is so lacking in confidence that he can't
even get himself a date...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.