Castaways

Given the very poor rating of the movie on IMDb ,I expected the worst. Much to my surprise ,in spite of a bad reputation,the lines are often very funny ,and if it's a far cry from a masterpiece ,it 's an entertaining comedy ,certainly smarter than the "feel-good "flicks which currently poison the French scene.

Plot: A shady businessman (Auteuil) ,about to be arrested after ruining his country (and more) ,has to get away from his native France ;he meets a dry cleaner,William (Stocker) ,who's got a private plane (sic) and they crash on an island .They are not very good at their Robinson Crusoé act though...They both build a raft which leads them nowhere but Willy finds something unexpected ....

Your belief has to be suspended if you are to appreciate the rest of the movie;though directing is just OK ,nay mediocre ,the screenplay has enough good moments to laugh heartily.A screenplay which involves a (female) varanus, a sparkling water source ,a (wild) chicken ,a hostile nature on the other side of the island ,a firework,an iPod (but no mobile ) ,sleeping drug,a Raclette - melted cheese served with boiled potatoes and cold meats - and even a hurricane.

At a time when financial scandals frequently break ,particularly in the political world,the movie has a contemporary feel;a spoof on the self-made man whose mother was a notions dealer ("the button empire"),on "the favorite personality of the French";in this context ,Adamo's ditty ,"C'est Ma vie" meshes seamlessly in the absurdity of the situation;and let's give the director credit for using a FRENCH (sorry Belgian) song whereas most of his colleagues put songs in English bearing no relation to the plot;okay ,they also use Tom Jones ' "it's not unusual " but its words make sense .

How's that?No photograph of me on the newspapers!