This is how a genre movie should be done!

Rating: 9/10 (31 May 2012)

This movie so easily could had become a forced and melodramatic one but luckily it's one that got made with lots of tact and skill, making this one fine drama, with a comical touch to it as well.
Guess that I really like contrasts in movies. The two main characters are complete opposites of each other, in about every way imaginable. Driss is poor, Philippe is rich. Driss is vibrant, Philippe is a quadriplegic. Driss is black, Philippe is white, etcetera. They are a complete mismatch on paper but yet they become best friends, which forms the central point of this movie and works out so well because it gets made believable.
They don't just become good friends, they also learn from each other and I believe that they also become better persons because of that. This is were the movie its warmth and soul comes from, in my opinion.
It doesn't ever dwell on it that Philippe is bound to a wheelchair and can only move his head, or that Driss is poor and also has a poor relationship with this family. If anything, this movie is a celebration of life, rather than than a movie that will bring you down. The effect of these sort of movies often is that it actually strengthens its drama because you feel far more involved with it, also since the movie doesn't shoves its drama down your throat constantly.
There are some small side-plots in the movie but the good news about them is that they don't distract from the main theme and storyline of the movie and the movie never puts its emphasis too much on any of the side-plots or its secondary characters. It keeps a great and effective focus on its main subject, throughout pretty much the entire film.
It's a great movie, in every way. It has a good look to it, that isn't cheap or rushed. It's a respectful and professionally made movie, which all paid off for it.
Also the acting is just great. Everybody seems perfectly cast in their roles and know how to handle their characters and manage to fit within the style and tone of the overall movie. Of course François Cluzet and Omar Sy carry most of the movie and they did a more than great job with this.
It's just a movie I can't say anything bad or negative about. It's well made and effective, which makes this one of the better genre movies out there!
9/10
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