Review of Micmacs (2009) by Bill B — 28 Apr 2011

Before I start, I wasn't looking forward to seeing this. Suffering slightly from a very late night, and having to see a screening of this in the worse cinema in the UK (nah, the world!), the thought of a French subtitled film on a Sunday morning didn't fill me with great enthusiasm. How wrong could I be. This was genius!

Bazil's father is killed in a land mine accident when he was a young boy. 30 years later, he is accidently shot in the head, leaving the bullet lodged in his brain. After a failed operation, he is sent back into the world only to discover he has lost his home and his job and is left wandering the streets. He meets an old man, who invites him back to stay with the Micmacs, a group of salvagers living in a rubbish tip, but finding stuff and bringing them back to life. Accepted into the group, Bazil heads out to find unwanted bit and pieces when he stumbles on two offices, belonging to arms makers; the same arms makers who made the land mine and the bullet stuck in his head. Bazil decides to seek revenge and with the help of the other micmacs, he is determined to bring the to CEOs of teh companies down.

I am a huge fan of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's delightful heart-warmer Amelie, but this is a very different fish indeed. It's a refreshingly funny, incredibly inventive tale that has a little bit o everything thrown into a pot to see if it stick, and on the most part, it does. There's great physical comedy, clever word play and a bit of satire, plus the most interesting batch of characters you are ever likely to see on screen.

Dany Boon as Bazil is a gem. He is instantly likeable, and you feel for his innocent plight, never done with real malice of nastiness, but always with a sense of fun. The other Micmacs, from the contortionist who definitely doesn't have a backbone, to the man who can only speak in cliches and proverbs, to the girl who is a wiz with numbers, are so enthralling,you could quite easily spend a whole day with them, watching them and trying to understand them.

The revenge is both clever and intricate, and unless you are really watching (and reading the subtitles) you could easily be confused, but it is done with such great humour that as bizarre as it gets, it's still a joy.

Jeunet has used the surroundings to terrific effect and the film looks amazing, as all his films do. There are more clever ideas in this film than a dozen Hollywood produced comedies, and even when you think there's nothing happening, somewhere on the screen there is.

Some will probably say this isn't Januet's best, and I would agree with them, but if you want to be thoroughly entertained, then I urge you to check out this spellbinding film. I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't appear in my top ten list for 2010.