Ricky (2009)

Fantastic!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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

It is easy to dismiss Francois Ozon's fantasy film "Ricky", which seems to have been overlooked by most of his fans. There are subtext subtleties which point this is no ordinary fairy tale devised by a man that has tackled families in crisis before, as it is the case with Katie, a struggling single mother with a daughter Lisa, of about ten years old, who is wiser than her years. Perhaps the director wanted to explore with this new venture how the working classes deal with their ordinary lives.Katie who works in a chemical plant, meets a new fellow worker, the Spaniard Paco, a good nature man who likes her immediately. Before long, Paco moves in Katie's council estate flat. Lisa is reluctant, at first to accept the new man in her mother's life. Nothing is revealed as to whom is Lisa's father. It does not take long for Katie to realize she is pregnant. One night, at dinner, Katie has prepared a roasted chicken. Paco, cutting the bird, asks Lisa what part of it she wants to eat. The wings, she replies. This incident bears into the story later on.The arrival of little Ricky is welcomed by all. The infant is a problem baby. He does not appear to be like others, but he appears to be healthy. Katie becomes alarmed when she notices bruises on Ricky's back, and becomes suspicious of Paco's care. Paco is enraged when confronted by her. He decides to go away, leaving his newly found family to fend for themselves. When the bruises are examined by a doctor, it is clear the boy is developing wings. What's a mother to do?Little Ricky is in fact developing small wings. They catch him over a wardrobe; little by little he is flying all over the apartment, even bumping into the glass of a window. Paco returns to find this new development. He has an idea to help with the costs they will incur if they want the baby to have an operation. How about get a friendly journalist to take their case? In fact, that only serves to get media attention when they did not want. The mere mention of this turns Katie off; how could Paco be thinking about commercialism at a time like this? After the family decides to cooperate, they come outside the housing complex holding Ricky. Paco, tying a cord around Ricky's ankles to secure he will not fly away, gives it to Katie, who in a moment of not paying attention, lets the cord loose and the infant flies away. What is a mother to do next? Missing Ricky so much, she has decided she is going to give a try on motherhood, as we watch her in bed visibly pregnant!Francois Ozon obviously wanted to tell a story that was entertaining as well as making a statement while he was at it. This film is not easy to grasp. All the elements are there and perhaps in being ambiguous, he wanted to challenge the viewer. He certainly had a way to get the attention of an audience, although it is a complex metaphor about a family and their environment and how the arrival of the new man upsets the universe between mother and a daughter that is more mature than her years.Akexandra Lamy is perfect as Katie. She is a capable actress with a natural intelligence in her approach as the mother. Little Melusine Mayance surprises with the way she plays Lisa. This girl is not obnoxious in contrast with other screen young actresses; she appears to be a natural. Sergi Lopez is the affable Paco, the immigrant who is rewarded with an instant family in his adopted country. Mr. Lopez keeps giving strong performances. Arthur Peyret is adorable as Ricky.

The premise intrigued me, and I started watching this movie on Netflix streaming. My 7 and 9 year old kids wandered in and became fascinated. What's not to love about a flying baby? They also liked a diaper changing scene, a breast-feeding scene, and some nude shots. However, there were some disappointing lapses in plausibility pointed out by another reviewer. My kids accepted wings on a baby's back but we couldn't figure out why the parents would let him get away. The movie is reaching for some meaning in the baby's flight away from a struggling single mother, but other than a vague feeling of sadness, the viewer isn't left with much to make sense of the final turn of events.

OK,a winged Ricky...whatever the metaphor is, has been designed to be the shock and climax of the movie. And what does Ozon have to offer after that? Virtually nothing... some big steps back in Ozon's career... still a good decoupage and some memorable scenes. ( I particularly like Lisa chopping the chicken's wings,which intensifies the threatening atmosphere, Ozon wants to imply... the light of insight on Katie's face when she was in the lake..resemblance of Ricky to his father as far as hair growth is concerned!...contrast of the music and rapid growth of the wing...)But,looking forward to see Ozon's back to his basics

I saw this today as part of the Alliance Francais film festival in Brisbane.While not Ozon's best effort (for me Swimming Pool remains his masterpiece) this is an intriguing whimsical story with disturbing undertones of obsession and sibling rivalry.The story really makes most sense when considered from Lisa's point of view (a powerhouse performance by the young actress here). I took the fantasy aspect of the story to be a metaphorical expression of integrating new members into a tightly knit family of two (and not just Ricky either). This magical realism is very strongly grounded in the emotions of the characters and this is what gives the movie impact in spite of its imperfections. Ozon likes operating on the boundary of fact/fiction mind/reality, and takes huge gambles here which don't always come off--but in the moments they do the film is very satisfying.