Bis

 

I recently saw a number of films that I haven’t reviewed so here are the three movies that I saw, starting with Bis. The direct translation of this French word would be, repeat – which summarises the story. Patrice Olesky (Kad Merad) is a gynaecologist who is sick of his life – he’s had enough of book-signing, dealing with his adolescent daughter and does not appreciate living with his wife anymore. Similarly, his lifelong friend Eric Drigeard (Franck Dubosc) wants more from his life. Although he is a successful owner of a sushi bar, he’s divorced and has a string of one-night stands. He wishes he has a life more like Patrice’s – and vice versa.

So, when one night they are up drinking at Patrice’s holiday home in the country, they accidentally fall down the stairs in the wine cellar and are magically transported to their highschool years in 1986. Whilst initially alarmed, Patrice and Eric then decide that perhaps they can switch life – Patrice can stop being so hardworking and start dating girls, whereas Eric can study harder so he can finish his highschool on a high note. Thrown into the story is Eric’s attempt to also date Patrice’s future wife – and the relationship with his father.

All in all, there is nothing new in the story and you can probably guess what happens at the end of the movie – that changing the course of history is not as easy as we think. The movie directed by Dominique Farrugia is packaged as a crowd-pleaser, so you may not want to over-analyse the story or the progression of events. I watched the movie on the plane and whilst it did provide a good entertainment, I doubt if it would give me the same level of entertainment had I deliberately bought the ticket to see it. There is a funny tie-in with other movies when Eric and Patrice try to convince a film producer to finance their ideas of movie that are successful in the present times, like The Artist, The Intouchables and Welcome to the Sticks (also starring Kad Merad).

 

 

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