Review of Micmacs (2009) by Joshua S — 05 Mar 2011

Jean-Pierre Jeunet, besides having the most French name of any modern director, is also gloriously skilled at making magic where other directors would fail. After making such classics as 'Delicatessen,' 'City of Lost Children,' and 'Amelie,' Jeunet's most recent comical adventure is a masterpiece and shows a director at the top of his game.

Much like 'Delicatessen,' Jeunet has put together an ensemble cast of wacky characters who bring their own unique skills and charms to the table. Dany Boon plays a man who gets a bullet lodged in his head after a drive-by is committed outside his video store, and subsequently loses his apartment and job. Shacking up with a group of scrappers in a shack made of garbage, he plots a complex scheme to take down a pair of arms manufacturers who made the bullet and the land mine that killed his father.

Returning is the ever entertaining Dominique Pinion, Jeunet's regular go-to guy for skilled yet silly antics. One might imagine that if this film were made twenty years ago, Dominique might have been playing Boon's role. They have similar qualities in that they are able to speak very fast, make funny noises and generally present themselves as strangely charming, introverted yet excited. Besides Pinon is a cast of other colorful character actors as an ex-con, a contortionist, a math whiz, a great cook, a small time inventor and Omar Sy as a ethnographer with a penchant for phrase.

Besides Pinon other similar tropes from Jeunet's other works are present; his trademark brown and green color palette, a penchant for fun rhythmic noises, elaborate editing, physical humor playing as Rube Goldberg contraptions and imaginative musings like "how many feet does it take to wear down a step?".

The pacing is just about right, giving the film enough time to establish characters and to let the plot breath. A fun film for one and all, and an instant classic alongside its predecessors.