Nothing to declare

With Welcome to the Sh`tis, Dany Boon has delivered one of the most successful French comedies of all time, not only in his home country. In Germany, too, he was able to make well over 2 million moviegoers laugh with his endearing directorial effort. It is therefore hardly a surprise that the expectations for his next film are correspondingly high. That Nothing to Declare can't quite live up to these expectations is actually no surprise either. But if you lower the high expectations a little bit, you will realize that Boon, despite a few little hangs, has once again succeeded in making a very charming and, above all, funny comedy that doesn't really have to hide behind the Sh`tis.

What wonderful times those were, when France and Belgium were separated by a closed border. At least that's how Belgian border guard Ruben (Benoît Poelvoorde) sees it. He's on duty in the small border village of Courquain, and he's not at all pleased with his French colleagues. When the borders of Europe are opened, Ruben's world comes crashing down. Not only because his work has become more or less unnecessary, but because now the hated French can walk uncontrolled into his beautiful Belgium. But it gets even worse. He, of all people, is supposed to drive a mobile Belgian-French patrol with his French colleague Mathias (Dany Boon). Of course, it doesn't take long for the men to clash. But the joint fight against smugglers and other crooks somehow welds Ruben and Mathias together. But the Belgian has no idea that Mathias, of all people, is secretly involved with his sister Louise (Julie Bernard).

In the first few minutes of Nothing to Declare, the somewhat unpleasant feeling arises that Dany Boon is trying to repeat the success of the Sh`tis a bit too cramped. When Mathias, a Frenchman, makes fun of the accent of the Belgians, it is very reminiscent of the amusing language barrier that gave The Sh`tis a lot of wit. Only that the whole thing seems far less amusing here now. But fortunately the first impression is deceptive. Because quickly Nothing to declare finds its own humorous tone. And even if it is again about completely exaggerated prejudices, Boon plays with them on a different level than he did with the Sch`tis.

Not only because with dumb smugglers and corrupt restaurant owners also a small crime element is woven into the plot, the boundless fun seems a little darker and more biting than the more playful, charming Sch`tis. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The big upside is that Nothing to Declare finds its own unique tone, allowing some of the truly wonderful ideas Boon has assembled here to shine through nicely, rather than disappear into the shadow of its successful predecessor. The downside, however, is that the charm, which is also quite present here, is sometimes crushed by some unnecessary and not always well-functioning slapstick.

However, even if Boon overshoots the mark at times and thus sells his comedy a bit short, Nothing to Declare still offers its viewers enough entertaining moments to be considered absolutely successful. Alone the scenes between the involuntary colleagues Ruben and Mathias in their ultra-modern service vehicle are simply great fun. And Ruben's somewhat idiosyncratic way of checking Frenchmen at his border are French comedy at its finest. But the film is at its best when the humor isn't too obviously doled out, but hidden in small details. And luckily there are plenty of those, which is why the laugh quotient is still pleasantly high, even despite the not-so-successful aspects. Therefore, the bottom line is: maybe not the big hit and certainly not as original as Welcome to the Sh`tis, but entertaining and especially endearingly amusing cinema entertainment offers the new film of Dany Boon all the time - and completely duty-free!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp