Like its predecessor "Fred" (1997), "ma Petite Entreprise" is in the same league: the world of workers in popular neighborhoods and the tricks the characters elaborate to get out of their distress. Pierre Jolivet finds again the same actor and one of his favorites Vincent Lindon for a role quite familiar to the one he held in the 1997 movie. Like "Fred", Ivan has to manage himself to get out of a thorny situation. The main difference lies in the fact that in "Fred", he was practically all alone but here, he receives a little help from his friends. Lindon acts the work alcoholic boss of a joinery and lives on a wild pace which made him estranged from his wife. But one day his world collapses for the workshop is burnt down. To avoid the definitive closure, he'll have to break the law.
When the film reached the streets, the catchphrase was: "in life, trouble make people closer". It was a well-appropriated one to grab the interest and to disregard any Cartesian logic in the relationships between the characters who one by one rally to Ivan. However, some of them were about to take advantage of the knotty stance Ivan was in. At first Sami (Roschdy Zem), the one who lives with Ivan's former wife, then Maxime (François Berléand) and at last Charles (Albert Dray). Jolivet found a supple dosage between the gritty depiction of the popular neighborhood, the dramatic situation which can worsen if Ivan can't quickly solve it and the droll solutions adopted with a dash of suspense (the break-in in the insurance center) and some unexpected turns in the story. The formula paid off well for "ma Petite Entreprise" drew many more viewers in the theaters than "Fred".
Jolivet's work garnered several nominations at the César ceremony in 2000, notably in the Secondary Roles category and François Berléand was justifiably the winner. Here, Jolivet has no cause to be jealous of his English filmmakers peers in the domain of social cinema.
