The comical recipe of "le Déménagement" is the same which will be cooked again ten years later in "la Maison Du Bonheur" (2006). The two films cast the same main actor Dany Boon surrounded in both cases by a bevy of delightful secondary roles. In the two films, Boon acts a character who's about to go through a major change in his life and due to unplanned circumstances, will be caught in a downward spiral. Here, his main protagonist Alain who write sitcoms decided to settle down in a more spacious house than in his flat thanks to a better financial and professional situation. He has to move all the furniture and objects and has called upon the generosity of his friends and the service of Romanian students who work on the side. The various problems that touch his friends and they're mostly of a sentimental source delay the advance of the operations and Alain is soon caught up by his professional duties with an important meeting with his boss, a rewriting of an episode and the two forthcoming seasons which haven't been written amount to his dismissal. Meanwhile, his spouse Tina (Emmanuelle Devos) finds out while classifying papers that his husband had a love affair with his female producer Léa...
The rules of the game are respected with sparkling dialogs, droll gags and actors who are vigilant not to cross the boundary of third-rate acting. However, smiles are more present than laughter before these unforeseen events and big glitches. It's surely due to an irregularity of rhythm: the film starts on a frenetic pace but tends to lose steam after an hour of film. Another problem is Dany Boon who hasn't got enough verve and stamina to stand these weighty disasters and his partners steal him the show. Actually, "le Déménagement" has the same qualities and drawbacks as "la Maison Du Bonheur": characters who are subtly described and well served by a gallery of eccentric actors but a main lead who was miscast.
Dany Boo acts a stingy man and that's the reason why he hired his friends rather than real removal men. He'll be the same man in "la Maison Du Bonheur" and precisely to show than he can be generous, he'll buy a big, expensive house to his wife (Michèle Laroque). In both cases, this drawback will lead him in a flood of disasters. The two films may be watchable, they haven't got this little something to take their places in the circle of great comedies.
