not simply a "buddy movie" or a "feel good movie", but a movie about humanity, devotion to others, friendship, tolerance.

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2012)

I have read the review of a famous french movie journalist called Pierre Murat, in the very intellectual magazine "Telerama", and I'm furious about it. He wrote that the worldwide success of this movie was highly predictable : good feelings, a "feel good movie" in a gloomy time of economic crisis, etc, etc...
Nonsense. Who could have thought that a french movie about a tetraplegic man on a wheelchair would be seen by 37 millions people in Europe, that is to say more than the US family blockbuster, the last Harry Potter movie ? Please, be serious Mr Murat.
Mr Murat too says that this movie is just good feelings, not good acting or good movie direction. Here again, it's completely out of base. the actors are wonderful and have a perfect chemistry between them, the script is perfect.
I laughed and I have been "touched"at the same time. Laugh and emotion at the same time, it's a rare combination in a whole film.
But infamy didn't come only from some pedantic french journalists who always denigrate and despise the successful movies (of course, when a movie is liked my many people, they say it's demagogic and bad taste). Some US critics dared to say that this movie was racist because the actor playing the man who helps the rich paralyzed aristocrat is black ! My god. Why some Americans are so obsessed by the skin colours ? As a French, it's not at all something that I noticed ! Who cares if Omar Sy is Black ? They totally missed the point.
What is important in this movie, it's precisely the universal message delivered behind a true story wonderfully told by 2 brilliant actors : beyond all of our possibles differences (physical or social disabilities or prejudices), we are human beings after all, who can be friends.
Intouchables is not simply a "buddy movie" or a "feel good movie", it's a movie about humanity, devotion to others, friendship, tolerance.
Unfortunately, Mr Murat kept is social prejudices (he thinks that a popular movie is always a bad one), as some US commentators kept their racial prejudices about black men serving white men.
Beware : this movie is for open minded people only ! I'm however pleased to see that they are more open minded people than I thought. :-)