Der Duft des Goldes

A worker plans to smuggle luxury perfumes without his employer's knowledge, determined to balance things out and profit from his work.

"Men are born free and equal in rights, but it is each man for himself." So good that it impresses us, surprisingly positive, we already love French cinema, with each extremely intelligent masterpiece, agile script, that sometimes we get lost in the midst of so many amazing plans, urgent twists, turns into occasional flaws, and deadly x9... We hope for the antagonists, evildoers of good, against an animalistic and brutal capitalist system, lol, nonsense, just distraction here, captivating, contagious, adorable...

We have a "Heist" movie with all the tropes that american movies made popular and well... tropes. So... it gives us something new... coming from Europe/France? Not really. The script is good. Good enough twists (I guess some would acuse them of obvious?) and everything coming from the characters works. I was entertained.

But the movie lacks... something. If it wanted to be comedic... just wasn't funny enough. If it wanted to be "light hearted heist movie", it had too much negativity motivating the characters and a bit too much malice coming from them for that.

And if it wanted to be a french "Ocean's Eleven"... just no. It didn't have the style/glamour, which is understandable of course. So, in the end, it was fine. It wasn't bad. But it's just not memorable at all and only recommendable for fans of the sub-genre.

Surprisingly enough, this is actually a pretty good movie. It's Lighthearted and a rare gem of a lot of sex and violence and profanity like most movies have these days. It was pretty simple to follow but still it had a nice twist at the end. Recommended if you want something that doesn't make you think too much something for the whole family. The acting is good and some of the things that they do are formula, but I guess that happens in every movie these days, the main character is creative and very full of himself in a confident type of way. There actually is some pretty good humor, which sometimes doesn't translate to English.

Superb casting for a film in which warehouse employees embezzle part of the production for their own benefit. The gang is led by Raphael Quenard. They start small, then the team grows. All against a backdrop where the factory is about to be sold. This allows the film to address factory life and organization, between the boss, the human resources manager and the team leader.

The film's first quality is that, although we can more or less guess what's going to happen, the progression is simple and regular, maintaining the viewer's interest, containing just the right amount of ellipsis to produce just the right amount of well-placed surprises. The script manages to blend the two dramatic progressions: Raphaël Quenard's team on the one hand, and the boss's intrigue on the other, both of which are bound to come together.

The voice-over of Raphaël Quenard's character works perfectly well and doesn't detract from the narrative.

Another quality is the superb cast, led by Raphaël Quenard, but also including Agathe Rousselle, Brunot Lochet and Stephan Wojtowicz, for example. All perfect.

"Gold Brick" is the newest French film on Netflix, which tells the story of Daniel. He reluctantly joins a company he dislikes out of sheer necessity and comes up with the idea of trafficking the perfumes within that company.

"Gold Brick" is an unpredictable story that unfolds throughout the film. The performances are satisfactory, without any moments that will leave the viewer dissatisfied. Returning to the story, it is simple yet manages to pique your interest and keep you engaged in the film. There are intriguing plot twists that can surprise the audience, and even non-action scenes will leave you electrified.

The film does have its flaws, like any other, and unfortunately, these flaws are somewhat significant. One of them is the limited screen time given to extremely important characters. This greatly affects the film, and you may even find yourself confused when encountering a character because you might not even remember their face. This also has a broader impact on the overall film since insufficient development of crucial characters leaves the audience confused and potentially lost in the story. Another flaw that may not bother some viewers but bothers me personally is the lack of a distinct visual identity. It falls into what I call the "Netflix Standard," with similar settings, costumes, filming techniques, and other aspects seen in a large portion of films on the platform. Unfortunately, this repetition is also present here. It's worth noting that the film is also quite convenient, with improbable events occurring for the sake of the plot's convenience.

In summary, "Gold Brick" is a good film that is worth your time, especially if you want to explore a bit more of French cinema. However, when watching it, you'll need to overlook the conveniences presented.