Les Seigneurs (2012)
Directed by Olivier Dahan

Film Review

Les Seigneurs marks an unexpected detour for director Olivier Dahan, into the arena of mainstream comedy.  Dahan is best known for his Oscar-winning Edith Piaf biopic La Môme (2007), although most of his work has been of a much darker hue, ranging from the bleak road movie La Vie promise (2002) to the gory action thriller Les Rivières pourpres II (2004).  Now seeking to broaden his repertoire, Dahan attempts a populist comedy on France's national sport and will doubtless achieve another box office hit, badly compromising his credibility as a serious filmmaker as he does so.

The film is certainly not one of Dahan's best, although it has slightly more appeal than Fabien Onteniente's football-related disaster 3 zéros (2002).  A lowbrow comedy that is content to go after easy laughs (and hammer them to death when it finds them), it resorts to asinine caricature of the worst kind and offers only the vaguest approximation to a coherent narrative.  In many ways it resembles those aimless comedies that were so popular in France in 1970s, such as the ones made by the comedy team Les Charlots, although it has far less charm.  The starry cast who lend their talents to this fiasco look as if they at least are having a good time, but the abundance of so many big name actors merely drives home the point that is trite populist pap for the masses, not entertainment for a more discerning audience.

Film Synopsis

Patrick Orbéra was once a star football player.  Now in his fifties, he is a sad wreck of a man.  Unemployed, alcoholic and penniless, he isn't able to see his daughter Laura.  He has no choice but to accept a job as a football coach on a small Breton island.  If the team wins its next three matches, it will be able to raise enough money to save the canning factory which provides work for half of the island's population.  Patrick has the challenge of his career - to take a motley collection of fishermen and convert them into a professional football team...