Unconventional friendship for hire!

Rating: 8/10 (14 March 2017)

I wanted to like this film before watching it. Is that a bad thing? I read the basic story line and believed the movie would deliver an experience worth its time. I only knew Omar Sy (Driss) from director Jean Pierre Juneauts' "Micmacs" where his knack was a proliferation of clichés that trailed off topic, but ended in that contagious smile and accompanying laugh. Not much to work with.... Not so here. From the opening scene, we know the unconventional inertia of Driss, as childlike stating the elephant in the room and his street smarts, but without Francois Cluzets' portrayal of Phillipe the paraplegic, we would have an immature caretaker with a drooling invalid with no heart or purpose. We couldn't be laughing at our own self imposed limitations. Yes, without Phillipe being rich beyond belief, we'd have no action. Much like the brilliant "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly", this story takes us away from our spoiled selves, not just cinematically but spiritually. Here it is filled with its own Hollywood clichés of dance scene, car chase and feel goodness, but that doesn't distract from the plot as much as it could have in a s"sell out" studio requirement. There is personal acceptance over stereotypical forced growth experiences and makes for a good film.