Dead Weight (2002)

I love this movie so much

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Launched in the Spring 2002 in France, "le boulet" was hugely successful (more than 3 million of spectators in the French theaters). Why? This success remains both mysterious and unexplainable because Alain Berbérian's movie's got every conceivable fault, every fault imaginable so that you can name it: the perfect load of rubbish. It consists on an uninspired and hackneyed script with threadbare topics. Dialogs that aren't very worked and a poor directing that emphasizes too much on special effects.But above all, "le boulet" is a bad movie because it borrows mostly elements or sequences from a lot of French movies. Thus, you find traces of "la cité de la peur" (1994) made by the same director, always Berbérian. But you also think about "la soif de l'or" (1993) and "la grande vadrouille" (1966) both made by Gérard Oury. Even the duo of characters with opposed disposition (here, we deal with the frail Poelvoorde and the heartless Lanvin) and who are however compelled to work together isn't original. Indeed, this comic device had been already used (and brilliantly) by Francis Veber. You only have to watch "la chèvre" (1981) or "les fugitifs" (1986) to realize it.With this poor movie that looks hollow, we deal with a very serious situation: it would appear that French comedy is declining...

I think this film is perfect if you just want to relax and enjoy some action spiced up with some humor. The car chase is unforgettable. The film is quite similar to the Guy Ritchie film (Lock, stock) with its many crazy characters but not so sophisticated, still quite good.

I didn't expect to but I liked the film very much. Granted, buddy films have been done one million times, but rather than try to put a new twist on an old theme, this one simply had fun with it. A cheerfully kooky film, with some really well-executed stunts (loved the "It's TURK, not KURD" shootout and the chase scene--nice to see a Peugeot stand in for an Aston Martin for a change), a wild set of plot twists, snappy dialogue, exotic locations. I genuinely enjoyed the Malian prison warden--very funny especially during the (brief) watch scene. I honestly laughed a lot. It's just a well-done, clever, fresh little buddy flick. Sit back and enjoy it.

I recently saw this movie on an airplane. I watched it on a tiny 4inch screen (100mm) and had to read subtitles all the way through. It was a hilarious film. If the creators were trying to make a serious blockbuster film, they missed the mark. But I looked to me like they were out to make a fun film that just got crazy at times. This they did. Even reading subtitles, I laughed out loud several times (not a good idea on a crowded plane, btw). Now it is possible that it was because I was in a confined environment with little or no outside stimulii for 8 hours that I found this piece highly entertaining, but I still have to rate this a 7 or 8 outta 10 for entertainment value. Look for it. (Probably not on a North American screen though...)