Adieu les cons (DVD) – Movie Review
We have recently reviewed The Banishing, which was another Cinéart release. We found the horror movie a huge missed opportunity, best to be viewed with low expectations. The plot was fairly okay, as well as the setting, but the film just struggled with its pacing and its overall story content to keep viewers entertained. Now, we move onto something that is more situated in the dramedy genre, with Adieu les cons (Bye Bye Morons in English). The movie captivated us with its original plot and its great acting; before it turned into something quite odd.
Adieu les cons tells us the story of three people who are a bit fed up with their lives. We get to know Suze Trappet (Virginie Efira), who has received the bad news she is terminally ill, and will not live for that much longer. Before she kicks the bucket in a grandiose fashion, however, she wishes to find the son she gave up for adoption 28 years earlier. Other than that, we meet Jean-Baptiste Cuchas (Albert Dupontel), a government internal affairs worker, who is being shoved aside to make way for the younger generation, resulting in some extremely negative thoughts. Last but not least, we also meet Serge Blin (Nicolas Marié), a blind archivist, who is missing a lot of excitement in his life. That being said, the main story portion of the movie will revolve around Suze’s quest to see how her son is doing. The other two are in for the ride, even if things get a bit chaotic and hectic from time to time.
We did very much enjoy the pacing of the film, as you got more than enough information about the characters, and why they find themselves in their current position in life. The movie did its best to balance between drama and comedy, often leaning more towards the first. In terms of the movie’s flow, everything was building up towards an interesting and grand finale; but then something very odd happened. The film suddenly starts glorifying extreme forms of stalking, calling it love, and even describing it as innocent. This left a very sour taste in our mouths after the credits started rolling, as it was simply such a weird thing to include or even praise, in a society that is actually dealing with more and more cases of stalking with very gruesome outcomes.
We have to admit that the movie does nail it in terms of its casting choices. Virginie Efira, Albert Dupontel, and Nicolas Marié are perfectly in sync with each other, and also have a nice harmony, where when one character is down in the dumps, the other one acts cheerful, and the third one acts a bit snarky. These roles keep switching until the credits start rolling, and this is actually quite nice. This fluidity also shows that these performers know their craft really well. Supporting roles are also handled adequately, and some characters may even tug an occasional heartstring or two.
Sadly, there are no real extras to explore when purchasing a DVD copy of the film. Outside of trailers for other films, you’ll just get one for Adieu les cons included as well. We did expect a bit more for a movie such as this. Adding a gag reel, some commentaries, or even deleted scenes would have added some extra value to justify adding this one to your collection.
Conclusion
Adieu les cons was a very enjoyable experience, right until the last half hour kicked in. From this point onwards, the movie turned into something very unrelatable and just downright wrong. Nonetheless, the film does have a lot of fun highlights and the overall story is interesting; and the characters are properly fleshed out. We can still mildly recommend this one for those who are looking for something classic, albeit with a modern twist.
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