Don’t Overlook It: Micmacs

For whatever reason, I didn’t end up posting this on Box Office Prophets. It’s a review of Jean Pierre-Jeunet’s newest film, Micmacs. I didn’t see it until well after its release date, but finally managed to get to it.

When I wrote whatever the column equivelant of a mini-series is with my “Best Overlooked Films Revisited” articles, my goal was to shed some light on great films that it seems like nobody but me saw, hopefully getting them a little more attention and some more fans. I’ve often considered myself a champion of the little guy (I’ll be rooting against the Miami Heat this season just to teach Lebron James a lesson) especially when the indie Davids tend to be so much better than the Hollywood Goliaths.

Now that I’ve caught all of you up on the great overlooked films released since 2004, we can start talking about movies that are currently being released in theaters and on DVD. Hopefully you’ve seen a few of the titles I’ve mentioned and you realize just how amazing these movies are. So after you get out of your midnight screening of Inception, you can get the inside scoop on the great movies that aren’t getting talked about on Entertainment Tonight or, really, anywhere else… ever. Until now!

Micmacs is a perfect example of a foreign, independent film that everyone should see, because it takes a classic Hollywood story and injects it with a delicious dose of whimsy and magic. If you hear the word whimsy and don’t immediately think of Jean-Pierre Jeunet then you clearly haven’t seen Amelie, Jeunet’s most well-known film. If that’s the only Jeunet film you’ve seen, then you’re missing out on the work of one of the most creative filmmakers in the world today, and I strongly suggest you get off your butt and go see Micmacs.

Micmacs is a change of pace from Jeunet’s last film, A Very Long Engagement, an epic and tragic war film. This time Jeunet focused less on the story and character development then on crafting superb visuals, perfectly executed with wonderful comedic timing. There might not be a better director of visual comedy right now than Jeunet, and he pulls out all of the stops with Micmacs. If Jeunet’s latest is at its most simple level an exercise in slapstick and farce, it hits the mark perfectly and draws comparisons to Jacque Tati or early Buster Keaton, comparisons that are high praise indeed.

And the story is entertaining enough to keep the film moving from gag to gag. The film’s protagonist is Bazil, a film buff who ends up broke and homeless after a stray bullet embeds itself in his forehead. Knowing that he could die at any minute, Bazil moves in with a strange collection of homeless people, each with their own unique talents and personalities. When he finds the company that produced the bullet in his forehead, and discovers that it is the chief rival of the company that produced the landmine that killed his father when Bazil was just a boy, Bazil hatches a plan. With the help of his new posse, he pulls off a series of elaborate heists to escalate the conflict between the two rivals as a way of getting revenge on them.

Micmacs is a film about taking control of your own life, as Bazil reacts to the misfortune thrust upon him with optimism and a proactive sensibility. It is also a classic story of the little guy sticking it to the big, evil corporate goliath. In fact, the film is remarkably similar to Ocean’s 11, and one of Bazil’s crew is even a contortionist. But mostly Micmacs is about the smile you’ll have on your face the whole time you’re watching it. It is a sweet, funny, beautiful film with fantastic performances from Dany Boon as Bazil, Julie Ferrier as his contortionist love interest, and a host of other wonderful actors nobody this side of the Atlantic has heard of. If you’re tired of big, bloated Hollywood action movies—and considering its summer time you probably are—then Micmacs is the perfect palate cleanser, a delightful way to pass a couple of hours and walk away happy.