Boudu (2005)

Very disappointing...

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

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

This is a remake of Jean Renoir's Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932), which Paul Mazursky remade in Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986).I'm not sure why it had to be done again (a universal dearth of ideas possibly), but it's not a bad piece of fluff, an enjoyable waste of time. Its only real problem is its length: it just runs out steam. Jugnot and Depardieu are fun to watch for a while, but you just know their mutual fulminations and frustrations are going to wane; sure enough, it happens, at about the 75-minute mark. After that, it just goes downhill, and there just isn't any fun anymore.Depardieu offers us yet another self-mocking caricature of Gerard Depardieu. I like him a lot -- it's somehow endearing to see this universally known actor fearlessly showing his bulbous belly and nude derriere to a worldwide audience. It's somehow very European, or maybe just French. I've always loved Catherine Frot, and her ditzy performance adds a lot to the silliness.Good comedies are hard to find. One reason is that they can rarely sustain the comedy and the 'plot' convincingly over a feature length. This is the fate of this latest incarnation of Boudu.

Boudu is a remake, but after three-quarters of a century, not three-quarters of an hour, as in Hollywood (which dearly wants to wipe out French cinema and is actively working to that end). What's more, this is a perfect comedy in itself, with dozens of nicely observed touches, such as the house-painter who pulls his pants out of his crack whenever he gets out of the car. Boudu is a mythological creature, as the operatic score points up. He should have hairy legs, hooves and two little horns, plus an enormous omphallos as in the ancient Roman theatre. Europeans pick up on these themes unconsciously, whereas Americans have no such equipment and would not know what to make of this bizarre cuckoo comedy, let alone sub-titles, which they will only accept from Mel Gibson's films in obscure forgotten tongues. Few Hollywood stars would have the wit to play the female leads in this film: the frustrated wife and the chaste ingenue. And what Hollywood star would fail to overact in Gerard Jugnot's role? As for Depardieu, the role could have been written for him. With his heart operation scar showing clearly in one scene we have to realise that one day he will be gone and life, as Boudu sagely says, is all too short. "You can't capture the wind," he says as he walks out of their lives, and the viewer cannot help feeling a pang of regret. This is a gem of the story-telling art, in the ancient tradition of Boccaccio's Decameron. Don't miss it if you see it going by!

I think the movie's great.it's not a masterpiece though, but it's quite entertaining.sometimes European comedies are way better than the American ones, the last often being shallow and childish.In my opinion Gerard Depardieu is one of the best character actors.Which are your top 5 french comedies?Do you think Hollywood could ever measure up to the European cinema?OK,i suppose i'm not the only person who have watched the movie.Post your comments.I would really love to see what you think of it.Take care .Bye. P.S One more thing- I think the title sounds stupid:)i really liked the movie though. Gerard 's face is so funny, yet so sad and capable of showing variety of emotions.

This has had a certain amount of bad-mouthing in France and after more than two weeks on release no one has yet seen fit to post a comment. Okay, the original, dating from 1932, is considered a classic and rightly so; Michel Simon and Jean Renoir ARE a tough act to follow but Gerard Depardieu and Gerard Jugnot are not exactly chopped liver if anybody asks you and in my opinion they've taken an honorable stab at remaking a classic and equally honorably chosen to move the locale from Paris to Aix-en-Provence and switch the original Bookstore to an Antique shop. Neither Depardieu nor Jugnot is in need of acting lessons or, in the case of Jugnot, directing lessons so it's no surprise that they have turned out a fine light comedy and it does no harm at all that Catherine Frot is on hand as Jugnot's wife who winds up in the sack with Depardieu. This isn't the first time I've had occasion to discuss Frot's amazing range and with luck it won't be the last. Here she is nothing less than delightful pulling out all the comedy stops in her considerable repertoire. Relative newcomer Constance Dolle, an Audrey Tautau look-alike is also on hand to brighten up the proceedings and a good time is had by all. Well worth 7-8 stars.