Camping (2006)

Good concept, poorly executed.

A Disappointing Continuation

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

a holiday film. easy, nice, about families and a form of entertainment from the middle of "80 decade . ordinary people, humor, not real convincing stories, short, a good choice for the public of French cinema. because, the virtue of the film remains the cast. Claude Brasseur, Mylene Demongeot, Gerard Lanvin. the basic sin - the old fashion flavor, as a form of resurrection of states from the glorious "80 years. and, maybe, not this homage to a form of fun who, today, seems be boring and ancient is the real problem, but the fall of a decent script. a collection of stories and clichés as basic tools.

I come on IMDb for more than 10 years, i can't believe this good movie has a so poor score here. It's the first time I come to write on IMDb, I just want to say that this movie is very good. First it's funny, OK maybe some french jokes can only be appreciated by french people, I don't know. Second it reminds the good holiday atmosphere that we all had experienced at least one time in our life during our childhood, or later. And third, and it's the more important, it's what's make this movie bigger than it seems, it's show the difference between poor people and rich people. I can't say more because I don't want to write any spoilers, but for me the score of this movie should be between 6 and 8, not at all under 5. Especially when we know that Franck Dubosc (Patrick, in the movie) had also a poor life when he was kid, which make him perfect in this role. I have already watched hundreds and hundreds of movies in my life, this one really belong to the one I like to watch more than one time (and they are not so many movies that are worth to watch more than once in my opinion) and to recommend to my friends.

This vehicle chiefly destined to highlight the humorist Franck Dubosc whose irresistible one-man shows partly revolved around his experiences as a camper flocked millions of French viewers in the French theaters (more than about 5 millions). Dubosc was the main attraction and from a popular standpoint, the experience galvanized him to work with the director Fabien Onteniente for his stale "Disco" (2008).However, from an artistic perspective, "Camping" will never revolutionize French comedy. Actually, it's a comedy in which one never really laughs even if several cues or sequences make smile. I dig the moments when Dubosc introduces his tent and the rules of life to Gérard Lanvin and his wife. The latter comes from an upper-class milieu and because his car broke down, has no other choice than to stay for a few days in a camp with French common people. As Pulp sang in their terrific song: "you'll never do what common people do", that's exactly the same with him. Anyway, the tenet of a man who has to cope with a new world is so hackneyed that Onteniente doesn't try to renew it. His film accumulates the different predictable links of the chain of the story following an ultra-mapped scheme. Ditto for the other campers whose "problems" make me yawn. Too bad for Mathilde Seigner and Claude Brasseur who deserve better than this. At best, Onteniente tries to follow other narrative directions but quickly gives them up.Lanvin offers a wooden acting and Dubosc gives us his little act but in a more subdued way than in his shows. His aficionados may want to watch this corny piece of work and it's perhaps the category of viewers the film is mostly destined to.

It's reasonable to suppose that the overwhelming success earlier this year of Les Bronzes 3 is the reason for this quick domestic version and, it has to be said, however obvious and in-yer-face this is nevertheless a huge box-office smash in France. Go figure. The plot - and I use the word loosely - has cosmetic surgeon Michel (Gerard Lanvin) driving to the South of France with daughter Vanessa (Armonie Sanders) in his top-of-the-line limo which breaks down mysteriously and coincidentally right next to the Flots Bleu campsite where all the regular punters who go each year are assembled. Naturally it's impossible to fix the car until Lanvin has had sufficient time to bond with the common herd - and take part in a running joke in which women keep flashing their boobs at him for his professional opinion. The likes of Claude Brasseur, Mylene Demongeot and Mathilde Seigner keep us watching but whilst he has charm and menace to spare Lanvin is not a natural comedian and he gets top billing. Nuff said.