Dead Weight (2002)

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Blistering performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Launched in the Spring 2002 in France, "le boulet" was hugely successful (more than 3 million of spectators in the French theaters). Why? This success remains both mysterious and unexplainable because Alain Berbérian's movie's got every conceivable fault, every fault imaginable so that you can name it: the perfect load of rubbish. It consists on an uninspired and hackneyed script with threadbare topics. Dialogs that aren't very worked and a poor directing that emphasizes too much on special effects.But above all, "le boulet" is a bad movie because it borrows mostly elements or sequences from a lot of French movies. Thus, you find traces of "la cité de la peur" (1994) made by the same director, always Berbérian. But you also think about "la soif de l'or" (1993) and "la grande vadrouille" (1966) both made by Gérard Oury. Even the duo of characters with opposed disposition (here, we deal with the frail Poelvoorde and the heartless Lanvin) and who are however compelled to work together isn't original. Indeed, this comic device had been already used (and brilliantly) by Francis Veber. You only have to watch "la chèvre" (1981) or "les fugitifs" (1986) to realize it.With this poor movie that looks hollow, we deal with a very serious situation: it would appear that French comedy is declining...

I really didn't know what to expect from this one. Actually I expected a movie like "la chèvre", "les compères" or "l'emmerdeur" : two guys unfortunately sticked one to the other for some reason... Allowing great and funny actors show. But there ?... The actors are good (but Poelvoerde is not at his best here for me), the stunts and special effects are not far from the best action films. The story is not bad. The directing is fair. But something doesn't work at all. I'm not sure of what. Too much violence ? some too-stupid-to-be-true behaviors ? Maybe. So I didn't enjoyed it completely and I won't give it more than a 5 on 10.

What a great movie. Lanvin's performance is terrific as is the motley of characters. The action rivals any american blockbuster, the jokes are hilarious as are the situations and unexpected happenings that continuously keep the protagonists from their goal!!

This film is a new low point for French recent history of blockbusters... The story is about a pair trying to recover a winning lottery ticket. But it's not easy for the winner Moltès-Lanvin getting hold of a lottery ticket when you have to drag a goofy bloke (Francis-Benoit Poelvoorde) with you. I won't go into the (too) many incredible twists but the story unfolds in Paris, Bamako, Sahara desert... While the acting is all right, especially Belgian comic Poelvoorde, the scenario is way too far-fetched to be enjoyable. Gags are pretty un-funny as well, I'm afraid they will be downright stupid translated. The problem with some French productions in 2002 is that they want to copy US blockbusters but unfortunately the worst ones...To summarise don't waste your money on thus turkey. 3/10 for Poelvorde!