Movies / Movie Reviews

The Intoucheables

By Hervé St-Louis
July 14, 2012 - 14:07

A rich quadriplegic man recruits an assistant nurse from the worse possible list of candidate ever, a hoodlum with a criminal past and a history of failing to take responsibilities for himself.  What has Driss, who comes from the projects in the Parisian suburbs to gain by working under the rich and cultured Philippe who has enough money to hire any top-aid in the world, has to gain?

As soon as the movie starts, it breaks all taboos and starts with a bang with a car chase where Driss a black man speeds through night time Parisian traffic only to attract, as planned the attention of the local police. Of course he is summarily arrested, until Philippe plays his part and goes catatonic, forcing the cops to release the driver and escort them to a hospital. Once that joke has been hatched, the audience had no choice but to laugh out loud for the rest of the movie.

The movie, based on a real story, break taboos and clichés by playing the to the ultimate level but making them so rich and ridiculous that audiences have to laugh at their preconceived notions about a black man from a poor immigrant background working with a very rich white man. And the point made by Philippe about why he hired Driss is simple. Driss has no pity and doesn’t care for cleaning his ass and doesn’t mind stealing a Fabergé egg from his boss. Driss is honest about not caring much, but ends up being the one person who cares the most for Philippe and seeks to give him back some of his humanity.

This film is a comedy with a very limited theatre release. It’s also subtitled from the French which means if you don’t like subtitles, you won’t enjoy this film. A dubbing of the score would not have worked as Driss played by French actor Omar Sy, delivers a strong performance and upstages every scene he appears in. His wide and naive smile makes him look like the most friendly black guy ever with the shining white teeth, the thick lips and the big wide eyes. He essentially becomes the cliché of what it means to look black for many white people, and the movie uses that continually to break barriers. I’m not sure an American director would have cast the movie with a black actor who looks so much like a black guy, for fear of being called racist by using the most cliché typecast in history. But like I wrote above, if Omar Sy didn’t have any acting skills, this film would have sunk and fail.

François Cluzet a veteran actor does quite well too, especially since he can only move his neck and face to give a performance. He is completely immobile and thus has a limited range to play with. While is not as exuberant as Omar Sy, he is nonetheless the perfect foil for the other actor protagonist.

This film is currently very popular in France where it came out originally. The score and the great cinematography helped a lot. Yet, after all the laughter is done, has the viewer changed any of his contraptions and perceptions about poor blacks in France, or has this movie only confirmed them? Will middle class white French trust nearby black French even more or will they tuck away their purse and wallets closer to themselves? Driss wasn’t an angel and stole from his boss, even if he gave him back his humanity. The real test will be to see if whites who have opportunities to hire blacks in France will give them more opportunities to impress them or continue to shun them and cast them away to hopeless suburban projects.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12