Big Boys

For most of his 30-year life so far, Thomas (Max Boublil) has dreamed of becoming a successful musician. But except for a few engagements at weddings and birthday parties, his music career never quite worked out. After proposing to his dream girl Lola (Mélanie Bernier) and now finally getting to meet her parents Suzanne (Sandrine Kiberlain) and early retiree Gilbert (Alain Chabat), Thomas decides the time has come to finally grow up. And so, at their first dinner together with his future in-laws, he opens up to Lola that he's going to hang up his dream and take a job at a collection agency. While Lola and Suzanne are blown away by this romantic gesture, Gilbert is convinced that Thomas is making a big mistake. Because for Gilbert, who is bored with life and his marriage, marriage is the biggest mistake a man can make. And he is determined to save Thomas from it. From then on, he never misses an opportunity to convince his daughter's fiancé of the advantages of being a bachelor. In the process, the two have so much fun that grown men become big boys again, convinced that their wives are only getting in their way on the path to real happiness. But that they are right in this assessment may be doubted.

With Grosse Jungs, director Anthony Marciano presents a very amusing feature film debut, for which he also wrote the screenplay together with his buddy and leading actor Max Boubil. Even if the story isn't exactly a prime example for originality and some of the jokes are a bit flat, the comedy is a lot of fun. There are often small details that are either very charming or enormously funny. An extremely inventive marriage proposal is just as much a part of it as the reaction to a man with a headset in the neighbor's car or a visit to the supermarket by Thomas and Gilbert together. The film is peppered with numerous successful laughs, which you can clearly see that Max Boubil is actually at home on the comedy stage. Especially during the wonderful finale at a nuclear conference, which is undoubtedly one of the funniest scenes in the film, the comedic talent of the writer and lead actor pays off perfectly.

However, the film also benefits from the good chemistry that is felt between the actors. This makes Thomas and Lola, despite their obvious opposites, a genuinely sweet couple who, as a viewer, you wish all the happiness in the world for. Of course, the course of their relationship is quite predictable, but the two harmonize so well together that the lack of surprise moments don't bother one bit. The comedic sparks also fly between Boubil and Alain Chabat. The scenes in which the two men mutate into big boys in a really uninhibitedly silly way also spread pure good humour among the audience - even if it is clear that their infantile behaviour will not have any particularly positive consequences for the two.

A few nice sideswipes at the youth mania in the music business or at the superficialities of high society and amusing guest appearances by music stars Patrick Bruel and Iggy Pop make the fun perfect. To be sure, Grosse Jungs doesn't offer fireworks of intellectual wit, isn't highbrow entertainment, but a very simply structured comedy. But since the film never tries to do more than give its audience almost 100 minutes of pure pleasure and manages to do that with the charming actors and quite a few successful gags, the whole thing works almost perfectly despite some minor hangs. If you like simply adorable French comedy entertainment, you'll love The Big Boys. Absolutely worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp