Now Over 5500 Reviews and (near) Daily Updates!

WELCOME! Use the search engines on this site (or your own off-site engine of choice) to gain easy access to the complete MAKSQUIBS Archive; more than 5500 posts and counting. (New posts added every day or so.)

You can check on all our titles by typing the Title, Director, Actor or 'Keyword' you're looking for in the Search Engine of your choice (include the phrase MAKSQUIBS) or just use the BLOGSPOT.com Search Box at the top left corner of the page.

Feel free to place comments directly on any of the film posts and to test your film knowledge with the CONTESTS scattered here & there. (Hey! No Googling allowed. They're pretty easy.)

Send E-mails to MAKSQUIBS@yahoo.com . (Let us know if the TRANSLATE WIDGET works!) Or use the Profile Page or Comments link for contact.

Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, February 23, 2009

MON MEILLEUR AMI / MY BEST FRIEND (2006)

This recent iteration of the mismatched buddy/buddy pic shows just how sturdy the old forms can be with first-rate execution. While the film is often LOL funny, Daniel Auteuil brings a surprising (and most effective) tinge of melancholy to his antiques dealer, a man with a full schedule of acquaintances, but neither the instinct nor inclination for pursuing friendship. Only a silly bet with his business partner leads him to an unlikely tutelage in friendship after two chance meetings with cabdriver Dany Boon. The irony is that Boon’s over-enthusiasm is as much a sociable turnoff as Autueil’s froid. The beautifully balanced script (by Oliver Dazat, Jérôme Tonnere & Patrice Leconte) manages to reveal Dickensian overtones within this set-up (there’s a lot of Scrooge in Autueil’s personal journey & redemption) and if Leconte as director forces now & then (Blvd comedies thrive on a more non-interventionist technique) he also knows how to back off. After SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, the gameshow finale may look like a bit of a steal, but this film came out two years earlier.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Why hasn’t Hollywood remade this? Dozens of actors come to mind for the leads. Perhaps a protagonist with hundreds of acquaintances, but no actual friends cuts a bit close for all those powerful L.A. producers.

No comments: