Livraison à domicile (2003)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Bruno Delahaye

Writers:

Pierre Courrège (writer)
Bruno Delahaye (writer)

Release Date:

2 July 2003 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Ils livrent tout... n'importe comment !

Cast

Bruno Solo	...	Ludo
Jean-Baptiste Iera	...	Thomas
Thierry Frémont	...	Fred
Barbara Schulz	...	Alex
Julie Judd	...	Marylin
Jean-François Gallotte	...	Werner
Fanny Gilles	...	Esmeralda
Fred Personne	...	Roger
Philippe Duquesne	...	André
Venantino Venantini	...	Giuseppe, le père de Thomas
Michel Scotto di Carlo	...	Bertrand, le frère de Ludo
Frédéric Saurel	...	Lieutenant Lafont
Alexandra Lamy	...	Denise
Emmanuel Quatra	...	Rémy
Jeanne Savary	...	Karine, l'ex-femme de Fred

Also Known As:

Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera (France) (working title)

Runtime:

France:93 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Filming Locations:

Corsica, France

Company:

Gimages 6

the delivery of a rather bad quality movie

I am the first one to write on this movie and I'm not really surprised that there aren't any reviews about it. On its release in summer 2003, critics slagged it off and it was a commercial flop in France. In my review, I will try to explain what may have caused the failure of this movie.

The scenery is the north of France. Ludo is a crafty operator who has trouble to earn a living through rather two-bit tricks. One day, he has the idea with his friends Fred, Thomas, Alexandra and Marilyn to create a little "home deliveries" society which not only sells pizzas on meal times but also anything: pigs, beets etc... The little means and the meager amounts of money they have make the beginnings difficult and things get worse when they decide to deliver a car in Corsica...

And this is from this moment when the movie has its flaws in major part. But already before this, one can guess mistakes in the story. To promote their tiny firm, Ludo, Thomas, Fred, Alexandra and Marilyn send adverts in newspapers with a photography depicting them and all the information about their firm. But the problem is that it is an undeclared firm. It is moonlighting and we never see factory inspectors getting interested in this activity they could have suspected as shady!. Then, in another extent, what in the beginning of the movie looks like a social comedy ends up giving way to a road movie which is badly linked with the rest. Indeed, Ludo and Thomas had to deliver the car themselves to Corsica but they are so irresponsible that Fred, Alexandra and Marilyn decide to accompany them. Yes but who will take over to undertake the other types of delivery? And when the 5 main characters are on their way to Corsica, it makes the movie remove from its basic topic which is (as its title indicates): home deliveries to lead it to a predictable digression: the 5 main characters' trouble to find money to make the trip to Corsica.

Another problem with the film: it has difficulties to master its topic but it also seems to constantly hesitate between drama and comedy. Thierry Frémont's presence is largely responsible of this. He acts a too serious and irascible character (Fred) whose acting is incompatible with Bruno Solo's and Jean Baptiste Iera's. Their rather quiet attitude is supposed to play down the importance of certain situations.

By making this comedy rooted in the gloomy social and economical reality of the north of France, the authors declared having wanted to break the drab and gray image commonly attributed to this part of France and to highlight certain inhabitants' resourcefulness. It's true that they manage to move away from these types of commonplaces but on another hand, they forgot one thing: to evacuate clichés about the characters themselves. The actors may be energetic (especially Bruno Solo), one must admit that they act stereotyped characters who have little depth. Thus, Ludo (Solo) would like to become an actor. Marilyn is the bimbo who is secretly in love with Ludo. Thomas delivers the role of the big seducer while Fred is an estranged father who misses his beloved son.

What is the amount at the end? A lame movie with an artificial construction and whose screenplay is plagued with jerry-built moments and glaring mistakes. Bruno Delahaye's movie could have been much better and it's no wonder it went unnoticed in the French theaters. With "home deliveries" (2003), we haven't got the guarantee of a quality film for entertainment. If this is what you're looking for, Delahaye's film isn't for you.