Customer Reviews

Les Bronzes 3 - Amis pour la vie (Original French ONLY Version - No English Options)

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If you liked films like "camping", this will make you laugh too!

Look beyond the "funny, great actors and nice landscapes" label and
you'll see a mosaic of different personalities (or shall we say
"personality disorders":)? Anyway, the casting is great, the musical
theme is always there to cheer us up, and the plot is complex enough
that can withstand watching it again after a couple of years and still
discover new meanings, let alone other jokes.

Leconte made films as diverse as the masterful "Ridicule" (1996) and
"Veuve de Saint-Pierre, La" (2000), which proves he can basically
direct anything! One of his last oeuvres, "Mon meilleur ami" has the
same "perfectly crafted but light" touch, but I think Bronzés 3 at
least is more human, less politically correct. And it doesn't try to
convey any "meaning".

Christian Clavier already showed us in "Vengeance d'une blonde, La"
that he can have a film turn round him. In this case it's a bit less
obvious, but even when he's not to blame, one is almost expecting "what
he'll do next"! He's great as a likable troubled misfit, making us
wiser by looking at his misery, tics and stubbornness.

This is a film on hearing, or the lack of communication. Since the
beginning, when Jérôme Tarayre greets Thierry Lhermitte as "Popeye"
even when he clearly says "Robert!", everybody has their own problems
and couldn't care less for anybody else. Robert "Popeye" Lespinasse is
no less tragic than Jérôme, he's only wealthier and more handsome.
Ornella Muti is a bit of a disappointment. She doesn't act very well,
and her looks are, to my dismay, not as stunning as they used to be.
Gisèle 'Gigi' André is fine as the stupid blonde a bit overdue but
nevertheless charming as a stereotype :). Funny to have learned she's
the wife of Clavier in real life!

Josiane Balasko is cool as usual. I feel her talents are a bit
underused here. Arthur Jugnot, who plays his husband, is quite better
developed. Just when you forget about this ethernal complainer, he pops
up. Balasko has one of the best phrases: "Stop that circus!".

The message board on "L'allemande's chien" reveals just one of the
great jokes that you may have missed.

Michel Blanc is obviously one of the best comedians around. This guy is
afraid of nothing to make us laugh! After his Denis in "Marche à
l'ombre" (1984), he doesn't stop surprising us. 'Jessie la Mèche', the
way he mixes some English words, his wigs, "Putain d'Europe!"..

Le groom muet, the beautiful cook Popeye tapes when she says her dream
to him "cuisses", le capitaine Giuseppe's stern "tojour morte, merci",
the unionized lobster thief...all secondary characters are superb!

I'm glad to read that a IMDB message board thread is "Quel est votre bronzé préferé?". This film deserves its "cult following".

I'll go to sleep listening to "baila" de Zucchero. Not bad for a
"simple" comedy!

PS: The scenery is beautiful, yes. I had the luck of watching it on a THX cinema so now on TV5 I can remember the experience.