The Intouchables
Gillipedia Official Rating: Don’t worry, this review comes with subtitles
If you’re struggling to find quality
content on Netflix, you absolutely need to check out The Intouchables.
This 2011 French film is about a superrich quadriplegic (a word I struggle both
saying and spelling) that hires a seemingly unqualified man with a criminal
record that grew up in a rougher part of town to be his caretaker. It’s the
kind of pairing that is destined to be a sentimental story, but there’s a
couple things going for it that elevate it beyond your standard film. First, it’s
not a sappy film that projects the two leads as heroes of light that are
infallible; no, these are two men from completely different backgrounds that
you naturally end up rooting for. Second, and more surprisingly, I was
expecting humor from the film, but I was not expecting to laugh nearly as much
as I did. This movie is hilarious.
I knew I was in for a treat as quickly as
the opening scene (it also helped that a friend highly recommended the film).
We’re immediately introduced to nighttime Paris, and caretaker Driss is driving
Philippe. There’s some well-crafted shots like a focused shot of Driss taking a
moment to look over at Philippe with everything else out of focus. Philippe
looks stoic, perhaps more disheveled, and only looks out the window. Driss
decides to show off the expensive car they’re driving, and he speeds around
cars through tunnels and on the freeway. It isn’t long before the cops show up
with their sirens. The only dialogue we get is Driss betting Phillipe that he
can outrun them. And the car chase that ensues is legitimately better than most
action film sequences. There’s plenty of shots that feel like POV shots from
the front bumper of their car as they swerve around traffic, and there aren’t
cuts that hide any of the stunts or action. Eventually, they get pulled over
where Driss starts yelling that his passenger is a paraplegic that needs to get
to the hospital. Philippe dutifully plays along and foams from the mouth. The cops
of course feel bad, and they end up offering an escort. As Driss returns to the
car, he can’t contain his laughter as he really convinced the police to give
them an escort. The mysterious edge of the situation has been lifted as the two
blast “September” by Earth, Wind, & Fire with their police escort.
It perfectly encapsulates the themes and mood of the film. There’s
the heavy subject of Phillipe’s situation, once people around notice they take
extra care to be sympathetic, and then Driss comes in to hilariously banter
with Phillipe.
It’s a strong start to the film that
then goes back to the day Driss applies to be the caretaker. It took me longer
than it should have to realize that it was Driss meeting Phillipe, but there’s
a big difference in Phillipe’s scraggly beard in the first scene to when they
first meet and is now clean-shaven—and necessarily so because it’s the best way
to know we have indeed traveled back in time. It may have taken me a bit to
realize it, but I appreciate that way more than there being a black screen that
tells me “And now 4 months, 53 days ago…” And again, this scene is well done.
The other applicants are all proper gents that take extreme caution to overtly
praise Phillipe and all have backgrounds being caretakers and having degrees
from prestigious universities. Driss skips a couple guys in line to hurry up
for his interview. Not because he’s excited about the opportunity, but because
he needs to show his parole officer that he’s applying for work and collecting
the benefits. He struts in, flirts with Magalie who is the manager of the
estate, and doesn’t have a second thought to Phillipe’s condition. In fact, he
goes out of his way to crack jokes. It’s not exactly tactful, but it’s also not
mean-spirited; rather, it’s more like the way you tease your friends. And to
Magalie’s surprise, this is exactly what Phillipe is looking for, and he hires
Driss.
Driss enjoys a hot bath in his fancy
sleeping quarters, and he starts to learn his role as caretaker—and the money
that comes with it. He bonds with other workers on the estate, and he mostly
dutifully performs. He has to feed Phillipe, bathe him, perform active
stretches for him with the physical therapist to ensure his body doesn’t turn
to mush, he has to pick him up to transfer him from his bed to the wheelchair,
and he takes him everywhere like art galleries to buy overly priced works
of abstract post-modern stuff. But he refuses a couple things. Like Driss has
no interest in handling wiping duties for Phillipe’s backend situation. And he’s
intrigued by Phillipe as well. While pouring some hot water, he accidentally
spills a bit on Phillipe’s leg. Of course, he doesn’t react, so he pours way
more all over as Magalie comes in and intervenes and Driss and Phillipe laugh
it off.
Driss is played by Omar Sy who has
appeared in a couple of blockbuster American films. He has a couple scenes with
his family and how they’re dealing with their own struggles that work pretty
well, but the main attraction of the film is his bond with Phillipe. And like I
said at the beginning, Driss isn’t a perfect guy. But every action he does is
with a smile on his face. Or where others are more than happy to please
Phillipe and go along with him, Driss calls him out. Phillipe will be first
surprised, but as he turns to someone like Magalie, even she reluctantly agrees
that Driss has a point. So what you get are tons of jokes from Driss, and they’re
not all funny, but he laughs along with all of his own jokes, and you can’t
help but feel that infectious energy.
Omar Sy is the best, but Francois Cluzet
is also great as Phillipe. He holds the sophistication of an aristocrat and
listens to classical music. He doesn’t give away much with his emotions, but
occasionally, Driss breaks through, and Phillipe can’t help but burst out in laughter.
The film takes moments to let Phillipe lament his late wife and think back on
the paragliding accident that put him in his current situation, but it’s not
even a focal point. We all see the big wheelchair and man that can’t use his
limbs. But Phillipe explains it better in the movie than I ever could in this
review. Magalie asks him why he hired Driss, and he explains how he enjoys that
Driss casually will try handing him the phone and forget that he can’t reach
out to grab it. Because even though he needs obvious significant help and Driss is literally his caretaker, above all else, Driss treats him like a fellow
person. And with all the interactions he has with the outside world looking down
and sympathizing him, that’s exactly what Phillipe was looking for. And yes,
Phillipe explains this in a conversation in a film. But he’s not bursting out
in tears while dramatic Hans Zimmer music plays. It’s simply another moment in
the film that is elegant and simple, and the filmmakers let the moments do all
the talking.
From top to bottom, this is an amazing
film. It handles its subject matter incredibly, the acting is top-notch, and it
has a true warmth to it while being quite funny as well. And there’s even
scenes that I can really appreciate where Phillipe takes Driss paragliding and
Driss is scared out of his mind. And they have a couple helicopter or paraglider
shots, but they also handed the actors a couple of GoPros and showed off that
these guys really went paragliding and it’s so much fun to see that.
Now you know I both love and hate to
say this, but the film isn’t perfect. First, it’s a French film, and you know,
screw the French amiright. But no, I was expecting there to be a better tie-in
as to why Driss and Phillipe were in the car in the opening scene and Driss
takes the cops for a ride. It is in character, but there isn’t a moment that
happens where you go Ohhhhhhhhh. Also, while I’m glad they kept it to a
2-hour runtime and it’s not a bad ending, they didn’t completely find a great
way to end it either. The journey and story is completed, but it pales slightly
to all the great moments from before. Regardless, put any skepticism you have
aside for having to watch a film with subtitles on, and go watch The
Intouchables. And create your own blog and review it there so that you can
recommend it to your friends too. That second part is more of a suggestion, but
go watch it! Do it! And remember: Les beignets du Café du Monde sont un peu
surfaits, et la bonne méthode de sommeil est avec un ventilateur allumé, une
jambe dedans et une jambe hors de la couverture, mais il doit aussi couvrir vos
pieds.
The Upside
Gillipedia Official Rating: It’s still a vague title that isn’t great, but it admittedly works better than The Intouchables. But just the title, not the movie.
I didn’t think this was a very
advertised film—strangely so considering it starred Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston—but I
had only heard of it and didn’t watch it until after The Intouchables.
It’s the American remake of the film, and I was surprised how negative some
reviews for it were. Some of the people referenced how it didn’t come close to
the original, and others found it extremely overboard in creating a bond
between two such extremes of people. Even the positive reviews tended to say
good, but not as good. And that’s mostly where I’d describe I’d fall. You
really only need to watch one of them which would be the original, but I feel
like you’ll still come away satisfied if you watch The Upside.
It both is and isn’t surprising in how
similar the story beats are. Like some shots and scenes in themselves are fine,
but it honestly almost feels like plagiarism in how much it tries to mimic the
French version. It’s like if your friend wrote an essay and you were like, “Dude
dude dude, just copy and paste the whole thing over to me. And I swear I’ll
switch a couple things around.” To give the benefit of the doubt, many of the
changes do feel like they were just trying to creatively be different and try
something new, but there’s subtle changes that do make the film uniquely its
own—but not really for the better.
This is true right from the start. It’s
the same situation where Hart’s Dell is driving Cranston’s Philip. And I’ll
talk about the acting in a bit, but the biggest disappointment is from director
Neil Burger (didn’t know his name or work off-hand, but he most recently did Voyagers
and is best known for the decent Bradley Cooper film Limitless). Just
the way things are framed, the camera is too close to Hart’s face, and none of
the shots create a feeling of mysticism or has the same deft touch or creates emotions
of anything really. No truly, I basically felt nothing during this opening. And
where Driss speeds around because it’s his carefree nature and he wants to live
it up with Phillipe, Hart initially speeds because he gets frustrated by the
slow drivers in front of him and is just trying to beat the light. Again, it’s
a very small change and is in line with how both the characters are portrayed,
but it just works better in the original. Also, the vital part where Driss has
the escort and knows they got away with it and starts blasting Earth, Wind,
& Fire is an awesome conclusion to the opening, and it’s missing from
the American version. The car chase portion is also chopped up and feels like
there isn’t any real stunts performed. There’s plenty of similar scenes, but The Upside
cuts out just enough to where it loses some of the punch that the original
delivers. But it actually has a longer runtime because they add a couple scenes
and spend a little more time on different things.
Where Omar Sy honestly is more suave,
Hart delivers his line with more harshness. The best way to compare the two is
when they first get hired. Sy jumps into bed playfully, where Hart lies down, a
man down on his luck with family troubles, tired of what he hasn’t provided in
the past and all that he needs to provide in the future. Hart’s backstory is
the biggest difference between the two films. It’s about his ex and their child
and how Hart hasn’t been there to help out. Lots of the added runtime comes
from these interactions, and it’s a change I’d say works in benefit of the
film. Oh, also, I know nobody is surprised, but after the first scene, there’s a
big title card that reads “6 months earlier,” because, you know, despite this
being a film geared toward an adult audience, we’re all idiots and need that extra
context in order to understand the film.
I will also give props to The
Upside for giving Philip a backstory about how he made his money. There’s
never anything revealed in the original, and here Cranston both is an author
and an entrepreneur that helps businesses get off the ground. Admirable, indeed.
Also, unsurprisingly, false. The real life guy the story is based on seems to
mostly have inherited his money and the family hotel which isn’t a great way
for audiences to bond with him—which is why I’m also guessing they left it out
entirely from the original.
There’s a similar scene in both films
where they head to the opera. Where Driss kinda introduced Phillipe to stuff he
likes, I think this film did a better job of making things a 2-way street where
Hart and Cranston embrace each other’s interests. And the opera scene here is
also done a little better.
I appreciate that Hart ventured into a
more dramatic role here and still exercises his comedic chops, but he doesn’t
quite have Sy’s depth. Surprisingly, I also have to say the same for Cranston.
This might be more of a difference in how the script was written, but Cranston
feels more hollow than Phillipe whom has that hard exterior but you see it
break away better with Sy. Magalie is now played by Nicole Kidman, and it
surprised me to see her red hair, the same as Magalie. Like I understand
wanting to keep a female in that role, but it’s not like the red hair was a
necessary aspect of the character. Not that it matters, it just adds to the
sense of this being more of a copy than an improvement.
It’s that time again. Time for me to
be a picky reviewer. As I’m sure all of you have already read, my last review
was Luca. I complained that it could’ve drummed up more of a dramatic
conflict in its last act. Here, The Upside manufactures conflict and
tension where The Intouchables trusted in the story. Although it follows
very similar beats, the original has the characters talking and acting in a
manner that feels more like how they should in real life, but here it feels
more like movie conversations that moves the story along but the motivations
weren’t established and the resulting dialogue feels forced. To avoid a spoiler
alert here, I’ll make up an example of what I mean. If a fish gains weight
because another fish told him he was too skinny, he gets bigger. But if that
same fish loses his job as a bubble blower down at the local reef and eats his
sorrows away, he still gets bigger. The result is the same, but the reasoning behind
how we got there is different.
There’s still a slight disconnect with
this film from the opening scene to returning to that point later in the film.
It’s the biggest missed opportunity of both films, but I was disappointed this
film didn’t take any chances to wrap that up better. And here’s a critique you
probably won’t hear very often: the dolly work in this film is atrocious. The
camera can’t move 5 feet without it wobbling. It feels amateurish and takes me
out of the dramatic moments.
You remember Disney’s Hercules? That voice actor is in here. Tate Donovan. Good guy. We had brunch just the
other week.
Don’t hate me for this, but this film
uses Aretha Franklin, and I preferred Earth, Wind, & Fire from the
original. But near the end Philip plays an opera song but it has Aretha, and it’s
a really cool way that connected Cranston’s and Hart’s interests.
Both films have dramatic moments and
jokes. But The Intouchables lingers on the jokes a little longer, and Sy
is laughing along and Phillipe breaks and joins in the laughter; with The
Upside, it feels more like Hart when he’s roasting Stephen A. Smith. The
Intouchables simply works better. You only need to see one of the two films
and The Intouchables is a must-see film, but if you watch The Upside
which can be found on Hulu, you’ll still have a good time.
In
Brief:
I may have
been a bit critical here of Kevin Hart. Don’t get me wrong though, it was a
good performance. Omar Sy was better. But I did just watch Hart’s newest film
on Netflix Fatherhood, and he’s very impressive. I really loved that
story, and it’s a good film to bring a couple tears to your eyes over the hard
work and love from family.
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