Perdrix

Pierre lives with his radio host mother and a scientist brother in a small town where nothing ever happens. When Juliette has her car stolen it's Pierre's job as a policeman to find it. On their amusing journey to solve the mystery of a stolen vehicle they connect, they fight and discover the truth about each other that they never wanted to face.

PERDRIX is a romantic comedy with a particular style that can be only described as a farce. The characters that populate the film are caricatures and nothing should be taken at face value. The performances are great all around in particular Fanny Ardant as the matriarch of a family, and who depends on one of her sons more than she cares to admit.

The problem is the script. While full of clever imagery and funny episodes it is slow to unfold and there are plenty of scenes that don't serve the narrative or character development.

Dealing with many interesting themes the story has its own, not always comprehensive, approach. It doesn't help that many characters of the film, while not one dimensional, are rather plain.

This is the first feature from Erwan Le Duk. While he definitely has his own voice this is the sort of film that will appeal more to the critics than to the audience.

The film begins with a tender speech of Thérèse interpreted by the excellent Fanny Ardant with her mesmerizing voice: according to her, the true love defines us and is all that matters. Then, we witness the unexpected theft of a bmw by a revolutionary female nudist, with a song of the bloody brilliant Gérard Manset. In two minutes, rhythm and atmosphere are laid!

Personally, I adored the manifold scenes that are deliberately absurd and delightfully droll, with a soft approach of existentialism, without being a depressing vision of humanity and without being abstruse as a book of Martin Heidegger. Nevertheless, without unduly spoiling the script, the end will provide a long-awaited touch of optimism and lightness and will make you forget the disenchanted characters.

The actors Swann Arlaud and Maud Wyler are both sublime. Actually, the whole cast is great. As a synthesis: I loved it! 7/8 of 10

No Metascore, average IMDb rating (6.5?). 1) Very beautifully shot, or maybe it's just the pandemic. 2) No loose ends when it comes to acting. 3) Funny interwoven tales without going overboard (like say, a Wes Anderson film).