Incontrôlable

It's not much that "Incontrolable" is a bad film, but it's a film begging us to laugh for a premise it carelessly cheats with.

Not to make a whole lecture on the intellectual processes of a comedy but "Incontrolable" misses an important rule: laughs don't depend much on funny actions but rather the reactions they cause. Remember the classic French comedy "The Visitors", the gags worked because everyone behaved normally, the sequel failed because characters became caricatures. Now, in "The 11 Commandments" (starring Michaël and his gang of immature friends) the pranks weren't all funny but the delight was to carefully observe reactions from normal people. When they started throwing ketchup at each other in a supermarket I didn't care but when the guards ran after them and slipped on the floor, it was basic and primitive but I laughed.

The point of comedy is to start with an absurd premise and extend its logic to the limit of hilarity, as long as the chain of events remains logical. When "Incontrolable" begins, we have a film that seems inhabited by normal people, George Pal is a wannabe writer whose constant rejections pushed him into a depressive and socially vegetative state. His girlfriend (Helene de Fougerolles) left him, his diet consists of kebab and junk food, fitting the lifestyle of the fallen celibate and misunderstood artist whose only chance is to linger on a dream of celebrity. It's all clichés but Youn plays his character as if he belonged to a drama and it's the right tone. I felt sorry for him, especially since I had my share of dreams crushed on the rocky ground of reality.

It takes a little time before fantasy makes its intrusion in George's life and when it does, I had so much time to relate to George that I almost wished the story had went for another direction, the result couldn't have been worse anyway. So George is suddenly possessed by a "voice". It belongs to the late Med Hondo who's for French audiences forever associated to Eddie Murphy and Shrek's donkey. The voice controls George's body, forcing him to accomplish the worst possible stuff against his will: it goes from folding his legs to throwing mustard on his buddy and it goes on and on. At that point, the film could have followed many interesting directions: maybe the voice could have pushed George to do things he didn't use to, to awaken his inner persona, to raise his voice... but it all falls apart after thirty minutes when you realize the premise is just an excuse to see Youn acting crazy.

It was fresh and original in "La Beuze" ("The Dope") because the film was a subtle parody of stoner comedies, it made sense in "The 11 Commandments" because the film was a French "Jackass" but here is Youn's first attempt at playing solo in a movie and it's a massive flop because of a lazy script full of cheap gags. The principal problem is that the film wraps its main character in a situation that itself should be a source of gags but then it goes the easy way by populating the film with characters so eccentric and caricatural they cancel out Youn's own weirdness. I wanted to believe that the film was going somewhere but when the vertically-challenged policeman popped in, I lost it. And when George kicked him as if he was Kyle with his brother Ike, I knew my time was being wasted and yet I wanted to see how far in the bad taste it would go.

I wasn't disappointed. Seriously, how desperate is a movie that indulges its script to kicking short people to generate a few laughs? The tone was not only bad but mean-spirited and even that could have been okay if the characters behaved reasonably and logically. In one scene, George lifts a woman's skirt, she screams, the next shot, she's in the same hotel lodge behaving as if nothing happened. How about a jealous husband? How about just a simple slap? In what world can a man do that and get away with it for the sake of laughs? I'm not polarizing my judgment on details because these are not details, the whole movie stops to rely on George's situation and becomes a pot of messiness where everything is thrown for the sake of a gag. The culmination is a funeral ceremony with African people and all of sudden, George starts singing a Gospel song and the crowd joins him in the rhythm, priest included. Is that a parody? The script didn't bother to come with an inspired speech before the song.

I guess it's useless to get on the whole story, the visit to the straight and stuck-up family lead by a conservative father (Thierry Lhermitte) had almost restored my hopes, I could even accept the crazy grandma but then the swimmig pool part reminded me that the film wasn't here to make any sense, it's as if the writer was possessed by a voice that whispered to him the kind of stuff a young audience would want. At one point, it went so downhill I was wondering if there wasn't a meta-referential statement about the decline of screenwriting, George wants to write a masterpiece but they only accept mediocre scripts with names on it. But that's what to mean? That Youn is a name and he can get away with the worst? If that was the intended move, I applauded the guts, but I'm not sure this is a movie Youn would proudly show in his resume.

Just think for a second all the bad things we do that harm our body..., the junk food , the cigarettes, the lack of exercise... . They say when something hurts, when something does not work properly, is actually every single cell manifesting, almost screaming for help. Like the old doctor's proverb: "Sickness is the shout of the body". But, what if the body can really speak for itself? Our mind in one side and all the figure in the other. Both confronted in a struggle that never ends, and if it does, the only possible result is dead. Enemies that without noticing are killing each other, as they need to work as a team to survive. But don't imagine that, just go and see this movie. A great French production, meritorious of a comparison with Hollywood Jim Carrey movies, like "The Mask", "Liar Liar" and "Irene, me and myself". Those kind of comedies that make you laugh gag after gag. Michael Youn carries all the film in his shoulders and takes it to unlimited places in a hilarious adventure. Our main man: a script writer surrounded only by the failures of his works, also projected in all the aspects of his life. Decided to meet success he will realize that it's not an easy job, specially when everyone is not helping, including his own body, that decided after a strange accident, to start a rebellion. The characters are taken to the extreme of ridiculousness. The colorful variety doesn't stop surprising us. A jealous father, a very particular police officer, a lovely grandmother, and the never missing, but also, impossible love. It deserves to be seen. "Men sana in corpore sano" or I should say "corpore sano and men sana"? Ask your body to take you to the cinema, relax your mind, and enjoy it.

My motivation to this movie runs from that I am a big fan of the lead actor: Michael Youn. From his hit morning show, to his songs, to his play and movies, I like his energy, his all-around humor, sensitiveness & honesty.

· With "Around the World in 80 Days", it was a 2 minutes character (but as Swartzeneger or De France, not even credited in the "main details" of the IMDb page!) · With "11 commandements", his spirit was kept but it wasn't really a movie.

Here, it has a real script, so the danger was that it could have killed his spirit…

The result: It's dumb ; it's crazy ; the script doesn't make sense… But, what's the hell ! It's funny, edited with energy, and the talented cast is having fun… Why asking for more with a comedy ??

I choose the DVD collector so I'm lucky to have access to a lot of bonuses. The making-of, the gag-reel, add supplementary laughs: the scene of the "dogs trophy" deserves to be a "classic". There seems to have a lot of scenes cut, so I hope to an extended version. The special "dubbed" editing is interesting because it is a good film-making lesson: never trust a frame: the eyes can always be deceived!

In conclusion, Michael Youn is an real actor & his skills aren't limited to his nakedness !

Wonderful ! 10 is not enough. I laughed all along ... so much that I could hardly hear the words ... but the pictures are enough believe me !

This guy Mike Youn is really a genius. If you liked Jim Carrey in his first movies, you will LOVE this guy. In France he is the most famous actor in comedy acting and millions of people go to see his one-man-shows and movies.

It's French OK but unlike most French movies "Incontrolable" is really hilarious and contains a lot of fun, crazy and brilliant comedy inventions. Go and rent it !

I hope to see this Michael Youn to perform in an English or American movie one day (he is perfectly Fluent and lives in United States by the way and almost made it for the cast in the next James Bond movie "Casino Royal" as the evil guy). By the way, this guy simply invented Jackass when he was a young TV animator in France (for those who don't know him ...). Thanks Youn Mr You !