Nicholas on Holiday (2014)

People are voting emotionally.

Just what I expected

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The first "Nicolas" movie was a comic delight, mainly because it successfully evoked the uniquely wild and wonderful mental universe of children, where the most sensible ideas sound ridiculous and the most ridiculous ideas sound sensible. The movie also provided an original (and very funny) take on the age-old subject of sibling rivalry.Sadly for all concerned the sequel is far, far worse than the original. There is a considerable decrease in charm, wit and imagination. I don't exactly know what causes this slackening, but I suppose it's got something to do with a shift in emphasis. The parents, both husband and wife, gain in importance, which is a problem since the screenplay provides them with far-fetched and unconvincing adventures. (The dance sequence involving the wife needs to be seen to be believed.) Meanwhile, we're getting a lot of new (child) characters, at least a number of which are not as funny or memorable as the originals. Last but not least I was amazed by the absence of Nicolas' baby sister, whose arrival pretty much dominated the first movie. Listen, people, you can't make a whole movie revolving around the birth of a second child, and then make a sequel in which the said child is never shown or mentioned : it creates a continuity hole the size of Ginnungagap.So I can't really recommend the second movie - but do watch the first, it's delightful.

colors and photography and humor. all from the same spirit of summer holiday. so French than becomes, scene by scene, universal. nothing special. except a form of joy who remains refreshing. because it is a film about childhood essence and about family. about small things, details, cinema industry and good choices. about a form of life , desired by everybody, innocent, seductive, comfortable. beach, room of hotel, meets - few magical. memories about the films by Tati and about similar stories. Valerie Lemercier and Kad Merad doing great job. Luca Zingaretti as seductive director . and eulogy to an unique age and its force of imagination.

The director made the mistake of putting too much humor way too often. The end-result: most of the humor wasn't funny at all. In comparison, its prequel did not have humor as frequently, which allowed the plot to develop better and made it a much more memorable movie. I really wish this one had been more like its prequel.However, I'd love a sequel. Three reasons: 1. The first movie was awesome. 2. It was a great opportunity to learn French. 3. When I watched it for the second time without English subtitles it was much more enjoyable, maybe because of my limited knowledge of French.Nicholas's mom and dad were enacted by the same actors that'd enacted them in the first movie, which was great. Most other characters were enacted by new actors and were boring, except for Nicholas's grandmother and Nicholas himself -- they were great. But then there were characters who weren't that great. For example, one of Nicholas's friends was a boy who ate everything, including crabs, frogs and things that live inside seashells -- and they showed him eating these things -- not funny!As a native speaker of English, I liked that they included Djodjo (an English boy) in the movie. Unfortunately, unlike in the book, stories or the TV episode he did not speak any English, which I was hoping he would. I heard one English word throughout the movie. Of course there's no reason for me to expect to hear English in a French movie, but my hopes were quite high.No, I do not recommend watching this movie. It was a box office flop (which means it earned less money than what went behind making it). It earned a fifth as much money as Little Nicholas, but it took more to make it. You won't like it, not if you're a child, and especially not if you're an adult.

I can say, for sure, as all of Goscinny's work, this film will delight kids and grown-ups alike. For children, there's a lot going on for Nicolas and his family during a vacation moved from the mountains to the sea. But for all of us who like light-spirited films as deep ones, this one breaks barriers seldom seen in recent times. If you want to be thrilled by technical issues that will not scream "I'm here" during your first watch, please, watch it again! They designed this film with much more detail than even Goscinny's stories when they were depicted in its time. Color is of the essence. And here, designers got their hands on it as if it was the end of the world. It's stunning, to say the least, the use of color and textures to make this film a truly memorable feat of design. Photography, on the other end, is superb. The night scenes are beautiful and luscious. The time-warp costumes and color matching of absolutely everything helps a lot in telling the story. And to cap it all, the cars are all of the era, and not just "period" cars. They chose a line-up of beautiful museum quality, colorful and perfectly matching cars with specs for the time-frame of the film. If you love the Facel-Vega, Citroën, Peugeot, Renault, Simca... you're in for a treat. Watch the kids! Watch dad and mom and granny! They are great. Of course, there may be some flaws, but I see them as part of a funny, uplifting, absurd and very very French film. What cinema should always be: entertaining and beautiful, no matter the subject.