The Tuschs - With Karacho to Monaco - DVD

Film: Jeff Tusch (Jean-Paul Rouve) from the small village of Bouzolles does everything he can to keep up his family's tradition. After all, it was his great-grandfather who once unwittingly invented unemployment. And so it is a celebration for Jeff when he finally loses his job and can celebrate his unemployment together with his wife Cathy (Isabelle Nanty) and their three children Stephanie (Sarah Stern), Wilfried (Pierre Lottin) and Donald, called Quak-Quak (Theo Fernandez). Together with grandma Mamie Suze (Claire Nadeau), who can hardly articulate properly due to her fondness for sweet liquor, the Tuschs live a contented and happy life. But their ideal world is completely upended when Cathy wins 100 million euros in the lottery and the family moves to Monaco because of Cathy's adoration of Princess Stephanie. Here, the new multimillionaires indulge in their wealth, which, however, does not meet with much approval from the noble society. For as much as the Tuschs try to make friends with their new life, they just can't say goodbye to many of their old foibles...

The Tuschs - With Karacho to Monaco is, after Fasting in Italian, the latest comedy from director Olivier Baroux, who has become known in France as part of the comedy duo Olivier et Kad alongside fellow actor Kad Merad (Welcome to the Sh`tis). The story initially makes you fear some kind of Flodder remake, and the sight of Jeff Tusch's nasty Atze Schroeder minipli hairdo bodes ill. But the film is nowhere near as flat and raunchy as the portents suggest. Admittedly, at times the whole thing is quite over-the-top in a typically French way. But Baroux somehow still manages to keep his characters genuinely sympathetic despite enormous overacting, and spices up the not particularly original story with some genuinely funny ideas.

When, for example, the new millionaires put a chip shop on their property because they love the potato dishes of mother Cathy so much, or when Jeff Tusch composes a new national anthem for Monaco, when Mamie Suze gets a liqueur fountain donated or the neighbors are to be impressed with the fact that family Tusch has its own photo booth, then you can smile as a viewer about it already heartily. And Cathy's great admiration of Princess Stephanie of Monaco, underscored by the inclusion of Stephanie's pop hit Irresistible in the film's score, is also amusing, as is Jeff's great-grandfather's accidental invention of unemployment.

When the chavvy small-town Tushes meet the snobby Monegasques, it admittedly has great potential for a delightful culture-clash comedy. However, Baroux only exploits this potential to a limited extent. Some scenes could have used a lot more bite, but are kept rather well-behaved here in favor of very predictable gags. This is quite nice to watch, but the big laughs are unfortunately missing. Even mini guest appearances by Kad Merad or Omar Sy (Pretty Best Friends) are of little help.

The Tuschs - With Karacho to Monaco does not want to offer high-minded and sophisticated entertainment, but primarily wants to make fun. If you like French comedies of the more over-the-top kind, you'll get your money's worth here. Because the nice characters, the amusing initial situation and a few really funny ideas make up for the rather insipid gags. Who liked the Flodders, which will also certainly take their somewhat tamer and more cultured relatives from France into the heart. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Especially in the scenes that show Monaco from the very picturesque side, the strong colors and good overall sharpness are very noticeable. There's also very little to complain about in terms of detail presentation and contrast matching in what is a very clean picture. The sound is limited to the reproduction of dialogue and music at most moments, but every now and then smaller effects and ambient noises provide some slight movement in the surround, which is a bit more powerful on the DTS track than on the also decent Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Good!

Extras: Except for the trailer and some program tips, the DVD unfortunately has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: The Tuschs is a nice, comedy that sometimes comes across a little too over-the-top, then again too well-behaved. Quirky characters and a few amusing running gags make the film but for friends of French comedies of the not particularly profound kind well worth seeing. Unfortunately, this quite positive impression is not additionally supported by good bonus material. Nevertheless, the bottom line is still a: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp