Vincent Dedienne flamboyant in a scathing comedy about appearances

This first film by actor and theater director Rudy Milstein manages to make us laugh about everything, including cancer. I am not a heroin theaters on November 22, paints an uncompromising picture of an individualist, hypocritical and cynical society.

Louis (Vincent Dedienne) is a “junior” in a large Parisian law firm. His backpack strapped on his back like a schoolboy, nice, shy, a little awkward, entangled in a body with which he doesn’t seem to know what to do, he lines up the blunders and struggles to find his place in an environment where everyone plays games. elbows to land the plea capable of making his career take off. The young man had been vegetating in the offices for a year when he finally managed to convince a better-placed colleague to entrust him with writing a “memo” on a case involving a pesticide company, which he had to defend .

At the same time, his doctor, not very diplomatic (the scene is hilarious), diagnoses him with cancer. This announcement changes the outlook of others, that of his parents, who finally care about him, and especially that of Elsa, the firm’s top lawyer (Clémence Poésy), who sees in Louis’ illness a great opportunity to coax the plaintiffs. suffering from cancer in the pesticide affair…

“Terminally ill morality”

Generally speaking, Louis lacks consideration. To attract attention, he tries to please everyone: his mother Isabelle (Isabelle Nanty), a former feminist lawyer who has become depressed and cares little about who he really is, his ambitious colleagues, the beautiful and charismatic Elsa, whom he wants to seduce.

Louis is also kind to those from the opposing camp, victims of the company he is paid to defend: Julien (Rabah Nait Oufella), a young man condemned by illness, whom he accompanies in his projects or the fiery Hèlène (Géraldine Nakache), who leads a more or less selfless fight for the sick. But behind this apparent kindness, Louis in fact acts exactly like those who pay him: without scruples, with, as Julien tells him without anger, “a morality in a terminal phase”.

Bruno, Louis’ neighbor, appears as a counterpoint figure. The young man, unable to feel any emotion after a stroke, utters without any filter whatever comes into his head. A delightful character, light years away from his peers and the concerns that drive them, he is also the one who will prove to be the most moving.

Spectacular turn of events

The first feature film by this actor and theater director takes a tangy look at a society that prefers winning to human values, cynicism to sincerity. It is in the tone of comedy, with a situational comedy orchestrated like a choreography, and rhythmic dialogues, that the young director stages this story which opposes two worlds. In the middle Louis, locked in his lie, who by dint of dancing from one foot to the other ends up tripping over his feet in the carpet.

This very theatrical production suits Vincent Dedienne perfectly, who offers scenes close to silent cinema as he is so expressive, like a clown or a mime, and the excellent troupe of actors and performers. actresses who surround him. Isabelle Nanty is perfect in the role of the mother with seemingly innocuous lines, as a real assassin, Géraldine Nakache in that of the passionaria with flowery language, and Clémence Poésy as an immoral lawyer. Rabah Naït Oufella plays with nuance a cancer patient who is finer than he seems, and Rudy Milstein is hilarious as the above-ground neighbor.

The young director spares no one by portraying cynical, insensitive and often contradictory characters to the point of absurdity. This seemingly light comedy says a lot about our contemporary world, between the lines, without making a whole thesis out of it. Can we laugh at everything? In this balancing act, the young director manages to make us laugh with serious subjects, but also, after displaying a jubilant cynicism, to move us with a final twist.

The sheet

Gender : Comedy
Director: Rudy Milstein
Actors: Vincent Dedienne, Géraldine Nakache, Clémence Poésy
Country : France
Duration : 1h41 min
Exit : 2023
Distributer : Paname Distribution
Synopsis : Louis is this super nice guy. And in his law office, that’s not a compliment. The day his doctor mistakenly diagnoses him with a serious illness, the outlook of others changes: we pay attention to him, we ask him questions and listen to the answers, Louis finally exists! So obviously he’s hesitant to say that he’s doing great.