An inspiring and uplifting film.

Rating: 6/10 (8 January 2013)

A rich aristocratic Frenchman Philippe played by Francois Clouzet, who is quadriplegic is perpetually looking for a caregiver.He is a tough cookie and taking care of his fragile health and erratic temperament mean that most don't last more than a week.We see interviews happening.There is a train of inept candidates even we know won't last long.They already see Philippe as a dead man. In the middle of all this, in walks a giant of a black man.He is well built and full of raw energy.He does not want the job, just a signature attesting that he tried to find a job so he can qualify for social security.He is out on parole, a stock character from the Paris housing projects, the grim underbelly of which has been superbly documented in La Haine.
We know immediately he will be hired.Its an immutable law of films, even if the posters and trailer have not given it away already.What follows are a set of adventures the two embark upon turning conventional wisdom on its head. Driss played by the gregarious Omar Sy, has immense physical energy and a love of life that is infectious, he has a mind of his own and is not cowed by the splendor of the mansion in which he finds himself in.Of course he tests the springiness of the mattress and practices his bathroom singing in a luxurious gold rimmed bathtub but those are not too important for him. Philippe indulges him, despite the protests of his friends, he trusts his instincts, probably his last act of rebellion against life which has suddenly been so unfair. The two are polar opposites but begin to share a bond.Phillip likes the fact that Driss does not treat him like a vegetable but a real human being even to the extent of making fun of his disability.
If all this sounds like a series of clichés from many other films you are right.But then, cinema thrives on telling the same story again and again because our lives too follow predictable patterns, no matter how hard we try to assert our individuality.What ultimately matters is whether cinema is able to sweep us away in its arc and its joy of telling that story and makes us forget our own dull life. This is what this film does, takes an old premise and infuses raw energy in the narrative.Sy dominates the screen like a giant, his love of life and his refusal to become a part of the vicious cycle of the Parisian immigrant suburban housing estates which are a sad model of exclusion and ghettoisation, sets him apart.
Driss shows Philippe a good time.