L'année du requin

Yes, the very famous bigger boat sentence/quote is in this. No pun intended - even if you did not read about it, you can tell that the movie is spoofing (a love letter?) to Jaws. It is not a shot for shot copy mind you, but there are enough visual and quote clues to make it as obvious as possible.

It is a fun little movie, but it may not be the best movie ever. And not your cup of tea - but that is for you to decide. It is nice to see an "older" female lead character. Not every joke does hit (contrary to the shooting skills of the main character), but it is nice enough I reckon ... or maybe I am just too generous once again.

"The Year of the Shark" is a drama that makes you smile, a comedy that does not make you laugh, a toothless shark film that makes Bruno Mattéi's "Cruel Jaws" reevaluate, and which it is unworthy to compare to the yet uneven series of "Jaws". Incredible but true: "Jaws 3D" and "Jaws 4: The Revenge" are good films compared to "'The Year of the Shark'"! Admittedly, French "genre" cinema has not always shone with its dazzling successes, its indisputable masterpieces, but in the case of "The Year of the Shark" we can speak of a complete failure as the film fails in all registers and bores its viewer, because of the lack of a decent screenplay, direction and rhythm.

It hurts me to write this review because I like the three main actors, and enjoyed TEDDY, the former opus of the brothers Boukherma, but it's easily the worst French movie I saw in 2022.

There are a lot bad French movies, but with this one I kept wondering the whole time if Marina Foïs, Jean-Pascal Zadi and Kad Merad even read the script before accepting their part. To me it's a total failure, mixing unintentionally laughable drama, no-thrills shark movie and a little pinch of flat unfunny humor. Beyond that it's a huge waste of talents, I couldn't help laughing while watching Marina Foïs trying to keep serious in this dull mess. The worse point could be that it's one more nail in the coffin of European genre films, if I was an investor I wouldn't want that this kind of accident happens twice.

First off I am French so I watched it in French language.

It is supposed to be a comedy but it is not funny (dialogues, situations, etc... all are not funny) , it is excessively woke , the acting and production quality are below par.

AVOID don't waste your time or money !!

1/10.

As I'm writing this review, there's just another one here about this movie and damn it's harsh!

No, it's not a masterpiece as Jaws or other shark movies can be.. Wait a minute, is there any other masterpiece in this genre ? Anyway, there are some very smart camera moves and really good use of short focal length lenses. I've been impressed several times of how intelligent some stuff are revealed on the screen.

Some actors are not that great and some shots feel a bit off, but it doesn't make this movie a bad one. It's honest and sincere and not "woke" (Damn, I hate this word) at all ! I had a pretty good time watching it and you might have one too.

And don't forget that you might need a bigger boat !