Each summer, a French comedy comes along that tries to to exploit its country’s sacrosanct vacation rituals, whether in the form of trailer park trash (the Camping series), nostalgia for the golden years (Nicholas on Holiday, Ducoboo 2: Crazy Vacation), camp chaos (Those Happy Days, from the makers of Intouchable), ripoffs of The Love Boat (La Croisiere) or good ol' fashioned sexism (One Wild Moment).
In the best case you get something like Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, but in most cases you get much of the above or else the latest specimen, Old Sitting (Sales gosses) — an awful if ...
In the best case you get something like Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, but in most cases you get much of the above or else the latest specimen, Old Sitting (Sales gosses) — an awful if ...
- 7/21/2017
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Each summer, a French comedy comes along that tries to to exploit its country’s sacrosanct vacation rituals, whether in the form of trailer park trash (the Camping series), nostalgia for the golden years (Nicholas on Holiday, Ducoboo 2: Crazy Vacation), camp chaos (Those Happy Days, from the makers of Intouchable), ripoffs of The Love Boat (La Croisiere) or good ol' fashioned sexism (One Wild Moment).
In the best case you get something like Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, but in most cases you get much of the above or else the latest specimen, Old Sitting (Sales gosses) — an awful if ...
In the best case you get something like Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, but in most cases you get much of the above or else the latest specimen, Old Sitting (Sales gosses) — an awful if ...
- 7/21/2017
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
A pleasant enough but slight coming-of-age comedy set in a French summer camp, Those Happy Days (Ces jours heureux) is very much a Gallic Meatballs minus Bill Murray.
Selected as this year's City of Lights, City of Angels closer, this world premiere is a feature-length version of a 2002 short by the writing-directing team of Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, a sunny reminiscence filtered through the 35-year-old eyes of Vincent (Jean-Paul Rouve), who, a decade earlier, had worked his way up through a summer camp situated in the southwest of France to become its director.
Vincent quickly discovers that his 10 counselors can be just as much work as his 80 kids, what with their own behavioral issues and awkward romances.
While the humor is genially inoffensive, it would have been nice if Nakache and Toledano had created a few characters that went beyond summer stock. Instead, we get the usual overweight/precocious/medicated/nerdy mix among campers and counselors alike.
The notable exception is the always impressive Marilou Berry (Look at Me) as the camp's resident earth mother, who manages to imbue her particular cardboard cutout with some palpable three-dimensional life.
Although the film ostensibly is set in the mid-'90s, the soundtrack is heavy on '70s-style pop and funk, which might have made for a culturally more intriguing setting.
Then again, Meatballs has already been there and done that.
Selected as this year's City of Lights, City of Angels closer, this world premiere is a feature-length version of a 2002 short by the writing-directing team of Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, a sunny reminiscence filtered through the 35-year-old eyes of Vincent (Jean-Paul Rouve), who, a decade earlier, had worked his way up through a summer camp situated in the southwest of France to become its director.
Vincent quickly discovers that his 10 counselors can be just as much work as his 80 kids, what with their own behavioral issues and awkward romances.
While the humor is genially inoffensive, it would have been nice if Nakache and Toledano had created a few characters that went beyond summer stock. Instead, we get the usual overweight/precocious/medicated/nerdy mix among campers and counselors alike.
The notable exception is the always impressive Marilou Berry (Look at Me) as the camp's resident earth mother, who manages to imbue her particular cardboard cutout with some palpable three-dimensional life.
Although the film ostensibly is set in the mid-'90s, the soundtrack is heavy on '70s-style pop and funk, which might have made for a culturally more intriguing setting.
Then again, Meatballs has already been there and done that.
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.