The Intouchables (2011)
Directed by Éric Toledano
A true story of two men who should never have met – a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident and a young man from the projects.
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25 films that influenced The Intouchables
What critics say influenced The Intouchables
I checked the production materials for “The Intouchables” and failed to find confirmation that any of this was inspired by 1987’s “Disorderlies,” in which the Fat Boys push old Ralph Bellamy around to his heart’s content.
Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe points out that "The Intouchables" resembles 1987's "Disorderlies," in which the Fat Boys shared their love of life and rap with wheelchair-bound millionaire Ralph Bellamy.
A 30-years-younger Eddie Murphy -- circa "Trading Places" -- might work, but unless Hollywood has a functioning Wayback Machine, I don't see him taking the part.
From “It Happened One Night” to “Trading Places,” it’s yet another entry in the category of “rich people need ordinary folks to show them how to live it up.”
The two generate such fun and good will in this Gallic " Driving Miss Daisy " (or " Trading Places ," " Scent of a Woman ," ad nauseam) that you can almost forgive the film's breezy racial stereotyping, cheap comedy and phony-baloney attitudes toward art, culture, class, and quadriplegia.
The premise of the French film "The Intouchables" is like a mash-up of " The King's Speech " and " Driving Miss Daisy ," with a dose of "Trading Places" for good measure.
The storyline follows the formula where opposites forge a friendship, here between a loaded white aristocrat and a Senegalese immigrant from the projects with a prison record—it’s a status quo Trading Places.
It’s no surprise that a Hollywood remake is in the works; this is thoroughly commercial moviemaking that calls to mind an array of high-concept crowd-pleasers, including “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Scent of a Woman.”
The two generate such fun and good will in this Gallic " Driving Miss Daisy " (or " Trading Places ," " Scent of a Woman ," ad nauseam) that you can almost forgive the film's breezy racial stereotyping, cheap comedy and phony-baloney attitudes toward art, culture, class, and quadriplegia.
It's easy to make a cynical diagram of Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano's The Intouchables: Take the basic premise of Driving Miss Daisy and move it to contemporary Paris.
The premise of the French film "The Intouchables" is like a mash-up of " The King's Speech " and " Driving Miss Daisy ," with a dose of "Trading Places" for good measure.
In other words, this is "Pushing Mr. Philippe," a movie to be placed somewhere on the scale between "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
A scene in which he dances (as if to give legs to the wheelchair-bound Philippe) puts one in mind of Sidney Poitier in To Sir, With Love, and his performance portends an equally dynamic career.
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That came across like complaining that few newspaper reporters in Rome are as gorgeous as Gregory Peck is in Roman Holiday.
This is the type of film French/Algerian star Daniel Auteuil has specialized in in France, with films like "My Best Friend," "Conversations with My Gardener" and "The Eighth Day," mismatching an advantaged Frenchman with a social inferior, and the racial difference introduced here may make some American critics call 'foul' citing the 'Magical Negro,' but the character of Driss isn't played for sentiment.
He reminded me of the African immigrant played by Souleymane Sy Savane in Ramin Bahrani's " Goodbye Solo " — a film that avoided the traps that "The Intouchables" falls into.
(Durpaire adds that if “The Intouchables” is offensive, so were the “Beverly Hills Cop” movies.)
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When it comes to comedy, the French like nothing better than a buddy movie, especially if the story revolves around an odd couple: My Best Friend (Daniel Auteuil and Dany Boon), Après Vous (Daniel Auteuil and José Garcia), The Closet (Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu)…and we’re only at the “A’s”!
When it comes to comedy, the French like nothing better than a buddy movie, especially if the story revolves around an odd couple: My Best Friend (Daniel Auteuil and Dany Boon), Après Vous (Daniel Auteuil and José Garcia), The Closet (Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu)…and we’re only at the “A’s”!