They say that money makes the world go around. More than that, it’s greed specifically fuelling us all; commerce, industry, ecological consumerism. We buy and spend our resources until we have nothing left and the creditors come knocking.
Very much like Albert (Pio Marmaï), a man who schemed and borrowed from everyone he could. Now in ruin, he makes what money he can working as a baggage handler at an airport and reselling whatever he can to pay his colossal debts. He meets Bruno (Jonathan Cohen) somebody equally as bankrupt both morally and financially as himself. Looking for free beer and grub one day, the two find themselves at a bar for social justice climate activists.
Looking for a new ruse to get them out of the red, they plan to exploit the group’s charity for all it’s worth. Joining up, Albert and Bruno (now nicknamed ‘Pumpkin‘ and ‘Lexo‘) swindle wherever they can to get ahead. But the more time they spend with the group, the more they feel right at home with these troublemakers. Albert begins to fall for their De facto leader, ‘Cactus‘ (Noémie Merlant) a beautiful eco-anxious woman determined to change the world. The duo become inspired despite themselves, and why not? It’s have not like they have anything else to lose.
From the writing-directing duo of Oliver Nakache and Éric Toledano, comes their latest feelgood movie, A Difficult Year. The two made 2011’s The Intouchables, one of the biggest critical and box office successes in French film history, reaching worldwide acclaim and being remade in many different countries.
Much of their filmography is focused on strangers bonding through their difficult circumstances, and opening viewers minds to the world’s problems, be it the plight of asylum-seekers, the disabled, or in this case, the toll endless consuming and materialism takes on us and our planet. Moreso the former, but I do find the comparison of rampant spending on a personal and global level to be an apt one. Everyone wants to recycle but hey, it’s ‘Black Friday’ and we want that new 4K TV that’s just going so cheap!
A Difficult Year never really asks any hard questions about the legitimacy or lack thereof of the ecologically aware activists protests. This isn’t a deal breaker for the film; however, it never takes itself particularly seriously either. The targets of the activists’ ire such as the police, the banks, farmers, store owners etc. aren’t presented as villainous or inhumanly evil.
What’s more, the ridiculousness of the group is drawn attention to by our dynamic duo of bumbling bankrupts. But as the film goes on, we get to laugh and are further introduced to this broke duo, we see that their hearts are definitely in the right place. Particularly ‘Cactus‘ whose ‘eco-anxiety’ is presented as a real issue which pushes her to actually walk the talk.
The pairing of Marmaï and Cohen is what truly makes the film. Their scenes together are so full of chemistry and are so humorous, I legitimately mistook the actors as a double act who had worked together for years like Simon Pegg and Nick Frost or more Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Neither are truly the straight man or the fool, both fitting the role depending on the time in the film. But both also go through arcs of their own recognising the fault in how they’ve lived their lives until now.
A Difficult Year is an, at times, hilarious film shining a light on humanity and our need to rampantly spend. It takes on some serious issues but has the confidence to handle them in a laissez-faire manner (seriously, prolific actor Mathieu Amalric’s entire role seems to be 70% making fun of his character’s gambling addiction). But much like Nakache and Toledano’s other works, A Difficult Year is a breezy and life affirming dramedy with loveable characters and a hopeful message. Perfect date night material if you’re trying to convince your partner they don’t exactly NEED that next purchase.
A Difficult Year is in cinemas from September 26.