EARNING an astonishing $200 million at the French box office, Welcome to the Sticks is the biggest hit in the country's history.
WELCOME TO THE STICKS ( 12A) *
DIRECTED BY: DANNY BOON
STARRING: KAD MERAD, ZOE FELIX, DANNY BOON EARNING an astonishing $200 million at the French box office, Welcome to the Sticks is the biggest hit in the country's histor
y, something that defies belief given that it's little more than a groaning fish out of water comedy.
In an effort to save his marriage, postal manager Philippe (Kad Merad) puts in a transfer request for the Riviera, but when he doesn't get it he pretends to be disabled to jump him up the list, which results in his transfer to a region in the north of France much mocked by the rest of the country for being cold, unpleasant and populated by hicks who are curshed wish an impenetrable Sean Connery shtyle vocal shlur.
To his surprise, he warms to the place and its eccentric population, but when his marriage starts benefiting from the 700 mile commute, he pretends to his sympathetic wife (Zoe Felix) that he's miserable to prevent her joining him.
With subtitles a poor way of conveying aural gags, the parochial humour gets lost in translation. Still, with characters this lazily conceived, there are plenty of similarities with below par Britcoms to make it feel depressingly familiar.
The full article contains 236 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
