Carried by Raphaël Quenard, an actor on the rise with an inimitable banter, “Cash” navigates between thriller and frank comedy, against a backdrop of class struggle. Funny and well-paced, this first feature film by Jérémie Rozan is to be seen on Netflix urgently.
It has just been released (Thursday July 6) on Netflix and it is already number one of the most viewed films on the platform in France. We understand why. Cash is a film with small onions that has everything to please in this hot start to summer. Both a heist film and a social comedy steeped in humor against a backdrop of class struggle, it is above all carried by an exceptional antihero, Raphaël Quenard, 32, the rising French actor and whose you have not finished reading. ‘hear talking.
A start on the hats of wheels
Of modest origins, Daniel Sauveur (Raphaël Quenard) is a young guy on the blocked horizon of peripheral France who dreams of greatness. He lives “in the middle of that slab”, a stone’s throw away, or rather a wheat field, from Chartres, where the Breuil family, at the head of a prosperous company in the “Cosmetic valley”, rules the roost. With his best friend Scania (Igor Gotesman), Daniel has sworn never to work for this capitalist ogre who crushes everything, but he is quickly forced into it. Hired as a handler in the Breuil & Fils factory which organizes the distribution of luxury brand perfumes, he will set up a scam to divert part of the goods…
The first minutes of the film are delightful. A sentence of Jean Yanne, “Men are born free and equal in rights, after, they manage“, picks you up from the first second and we immediately understand which side is on the director Jérémie Rozan, who also signs the screenplay. There follows, during the credits, a cheerful dialogue, in the dark, between the two heroes of the story, about reggae and Babylon, “a city plagued by capitalism and corruption“. And as if that were not enough, then resounds the irresistible and indestructible tube of Yellowman Zungguzungguguzungguzeng which rushes us in all joy into a scene of nocturnal stalking. Inevitably, we rub our hands with pleasure in anticipation. And we will not be disappointed with the trip.
The banter of Raphaël Quenard in the foreground
As in too few French comedies, the rhythm will never slow down for 1h36, and the scams and low blows tangle without respite with each other. Because of course, nothing goes quite as planned in this scam, Sauveur soon finding himself at the head of a band of Pieds Nickelés where we find many familiar faces, those of the excellent second knives Antoine Gouy, Grégoire Colin, Youssef Hajdi or Younès Boucif. A voice-over, the one recognizable among a thousand by Raphaël Quenard, a nasal timbre endowed with a singular accent that belongs only to him, holds our hand throughout. “The real France of overtime hours net of tax was us“. But “Ythere are no worse rich than the former poor“, he warns: “From the first pay, mine opened the floodgates of bullshit, and thoroughly“.
We will not forget his banter or his presence. Because the talent of Raphaël Quenard explodes in the skin of this character thirsty for social revenge, who gains confidence over the course of the story, going from a loser without stature to a clever and ingenious gang leader always one step ahead. Already noticed in the series HP And Family Business and more recently in junkyard doge, where he gave the reply to the other rising star Anthony Bajon, we will see him soon in Yannick by Quentin Dupieux.
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A jubilant soundtrack
The music, used wisely to energize the scenes, is another secret weapon of the film, to which it adds a jubilant touch. Besides Yellowman, the soundtrack deftly mixes the old and the old, from JuL (Sousou) to Specials (A message to you Rudy) and Bouga of the IAM clan (Belsunce Breakdown) to the Gipsy Kings or Booker T and the MG’s. It must be said that Jérémie Rozan, whose first feature film this is, knows music since he is also known for his music videos, from Kid Kudi to Chromeo. He notably signed the video We Are Your Friends for Justice vs Simian, the famous clip whose victory at the European MTV Awards in 2006 had provoked the ire of Kanye West and one of his famous public skids.
Of course, Cash is not free from flaws. The twists and turns of this hectic scenario are often pleasantly predictable, and the characters in the supporting roles remain too superficial (in particular the actress Agathe Rousselle, heroine of Titanium, here under-exploited). But the lack of pretension of the director and his frank humor coupled with big nods to Scorsese and Soderbergh (Freedmen And Ocean’s Eleven not to mention them) take the spectator on board. They make it a nugget that could well become cult.
“Cash” by Jérémie Rozan (1h36) on Netflix