I stumbled upon this movie totally by accident and decided to watch it. I don't regret this decision because it turned out to be a quite entertaining and educative comedy. It has a very good lesson concerning how much some men tend to have toxic and false ideas about women because of their poor communication skills with them. It also shows how such men tend to be ungrateful for the roles that the women in their lives play. It's not surprising then that it is such men, as also shown in the movie, that tend to be abusive to women and to try to paint themselves as the "real victims" instead of the women that they abuse and hurt.
All these priceless lessons are explored in the movie through the marital relationships of Jean-Pierre Ménard (Christian Clavier), a wealthy businessman, and Richard (Gérard Lanvin), a middle-class man that is employed as Ménard's chauffeur. Although both men exist in different socioeconomic classes, the movie successfully manages to show that the toxic gender and relationships beliefs that they bear have similar consequences for the women in their lives. Both men, as a result, end up abusing and hurting these women and, in the end, awaken to the realization that it has always been them, and not the women, that were the problems in their respective relationships. All this may seem abstract and boring but I encourage - strongly recommend in fact - that you watch the movie to see how it's all played out in a funny and entertaining way - except for the abuse parts, which are really sad and somewhat infuriating. The performances are also great from all the cast members and they're an attraction of their own.
That said, a couple of negatives I noted about the movie include its poor racial representation and its not having focused on its women characters more. It also communicates a number of concerning and negative gender stereotypes. Despite these though, I highly recommend this movie to lovers of comedy and to all who are looking for a light but thoughtful movie that they could enjoy watching while unwinding from their daily routines. In conclusion, I could have give this movie a 10 but the aforementioned negatives have lowered it to an 8.
All these priceless lessons are explored in the movie through the marital relationships of Jean-Pierre Ménard (Christian Clavier), a wealthy businessman, and Richard (Gérard Lanvin), a middle-class man that is employed as Ménard's chauffeur. Although both men exist in different socioeconomic classes, the movie successfully manages to show that the toxic gender and relationships beliefs that they bear have similar consequences for the women in their lives. Both men, as a result, end up abusing and hurting these women and, in the end, awaken to the realization that it has always been them, and not the women, that were the problems in their respective relationships. All this may seem abstract and boring but I encourage - strongly recommend in fact - that you watch the movie to see how it's all played out in a funny and entertaining way - except for the abuse parts, which are really sad and somewhat infuriating. The performances are also great from all the cast members and they're an attraction of their own.
That said, a couple of negatives I noted about the movie include its poor racial representation and its not having focused on its women characters more. It also communicates a number of concerning and negative gender stereotypes. Despite these though, I highly recommend this movie to lovers of comedy and to all who are looking for a light but thoughtful movie that they could enjoy watching while unwinding from their daily routines. In conclusion, I could have give this movie a 10 but the aforementioned negatives have lowered it to an 8.