User reviews

Of course it's not a deep film, but nor is it pretentious. It might also not please everyone - if you don't want to have a good laugh, or if your French is challenged, you could find it dull. But true laugh-out-loud comedies that feel genuine and refreshing (like this one) instead of grotesque and vulgar are few and far in between. Moreover, and even more rare, the whole audience - me included - seemed to be howling in laughter, not just three people making a lot of noise.

While the pun is largely based on the local "ch'ti" dialect, it is not limited to it and humour works throughout, well timed and mastered by the actors. The dialect itself was ably used, and the audience are introduced to it nicely. Boon is wonderful, both touching and funny, and Kad Merad delivers a nice performance. More than the dialect or the actors, the region itself and its people are beautifully pictured, and the spirit is well captured. Clichés are used for comedic purpose, and are dispelled instead of being woven. Amateurs will also find an incredible short appearance by Michel Galabru (my favourite part of the film). The film never aims to be realistic, and never seems pretentious, but the feel of Northern France is genuine.

In the end, it is a truly pleasing film: funny, true to itself, fresh and nicely French (but not the part you are most used to seeing) is what you should expect.

A really, really charming film. Charming being the word for movies with really simple plots, very down-to-earth stakes, and the ability to leave you with a big G-rated smile on your face afterwards. If you like cross-cultural fish-out-of-water movies such as My Big, Fat Greek Wedding, you're going to love this story of a postmaster who gets reassigned to the apparently misunderstood (in many senses) northern region of France, and how lives change accordingly.

But what really impressed me the most were the subtitles. The English subtitles amazingly captured all the nuances of the convoluted wordplay that was obviously happening on screen. This becomes an even more impressive feat when you consider that much of the verbal fun of the movie comes from the various misunderstandings between the French-speaking lead character and the folks who speak in the northern provincial "Schticks" dialect. Because of this added layer of complexity, I realized that capturing these dynamics cannot be the product of any ordinary clerical translation job.

And it turns out I was right. I later read that the director, Dany Boon, actually took an active role in ensuring that all the subtitles for the different languages properly and lovingly reflected the nuances and intent of the on screen banter. With truly impressive results.

So kudos to Boon for paying attention to this particular detail. Oftentimes, foreign audiences miss out on much of the seeming in-jokes that movies play for their local audiences. "Schticks" made it a point to share its world with everyone else. Great job.

A Parisian husband who is transfered to a town in north of France carrying a negative image about its people, but then he realizes the truth of his misperceptions.

The plot is kinda simple yet fun depicting stereotyping and friendship in a sweet and lovable way.

I really felt for the climax as I am one who is really attached to people and places. What helped more to enjoy WELCOME TO THE STICKS (BIENVENUE CHEZ LES CH'TIS) is the incredible work for the subtitles which captured the essence of scenes where different dialects have a role in the plot for non-French speaking.

As a French film lover, I had to discover this little film which was surrounded by much hype and now ranks among the 5 most profitable movies launched in France. Otherwise, people would have told me: "what? You haven't seen Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'Ti's? Everyone's talking about it. It's terrific". So terrific that it turned the small town of Berck into an unlikely tourist attraction and a few months ago I ate a delicious "Maroual" tart! Without mentioning verbal expressions that are now used in French common language like "Biloute". I went to see it also partly because I had enjoyed Dany Boon's first effort as a director: "la Maison Du Bonheur" (2006) even if I especially smiled than laughed.

I'm a little baffled that this film which isn't that much original made itself known in virtually every French house. The premise of a man who has to cope with a new and supposedly hostile world has been used thousands of times before in cinema. At first, Boon follows an apparently mapped scheme. Kad Merad is anguished at the idea to spend a part of his professional life in Northern France where it is supposed to rain every day and where inhabitants appear to be sullen. But then, things aren't what he believes them to be: it's often sunny and people are generally charming. But as he wants to avoid a breakdown to his wife, Merad lies to her until one day she joins him in the Nord Pas De Calais.

What I like in Boon's effort is that it recycles the clichés linked to this French area to boost laughter and it often works. I dig the moments when Merad is on the highway (to hell?) and as soon as he arrives in the Nord Pas De Calais, it starts to rain. When Merad also tries to help Boon to solve his problem with alcohol, it's quite funny too. I would also quote the moments with humorist Patrick Bosso as a cop who stops twice Merad on the highway and its results. Boon's directing should also be praised for taking some of his clichés into unexpected territories like when Boon announces to Line Renaud that he wants to marry his girlfriend. And when Merad's wife comes to visit him in Northern France, Dany Boon thumbs the nose at the ones who have a dogged vision of dreary Northern France.

There's no denying that Boon is deeply attached to his native area. His love for it transpires in virtually every plan where we can see parts of the town and its inhabitants. It's obvious that he feels much more at ease in directing and acting than in its previous effort where secondary roles almost stole him the show. He manages to convey tenderness for his characters to the viewer. However, like in "la Maison Du Bonheur", I especially smiled than laughed. The sole moment where I was dead laughing was when Merad pretends to be disabled to have his promotion even if this trick isn't new.

But Boon's effort is better than his first one thanks to his control over directing (one can admire the contrast when Merad enjoys being in joyful Northern France and when he has to go back to Nice to find again his depressed wife), clichés and also the performance as a whole. It's also comforting that such a film rode high at the French box office while other productions that were likely to be successes failed in spite of a conspicuous publicity campaign like "Astérix Aux Jeux Olympiques" (2008). And it's a film that should definitely reduce the detractors of Northern France to silence. So, I liked "Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'Ti's" but I doubt whether I would want to watch it again.

This movie is easily the best French film that has come out in the last years. It is an excellent comedy with the two great actors Dany Boon and Kad Merad but the movie has also its philosophical, dramatical and sad parts.

This movie is extremely funny, it is really difficult to make me laugh but this film made me laugh really hard several times. The best examples are when the postman and his director are having some drinks with half of the town while they deliver the letters or the scenes in the old mining town of Bergues, This movie is extremely touching and emotional. When the excellent Kad Merad tells his new partners and friends about his lies and mistakes, you feel really sad and ashamed for him. The movie's finale is also very emotional and a perfect and really philosophical conclusion.

But the real star of the movie is the whole region, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, where this movie is settled. This film presents strange and funny accents of the Sticks, their historical and charming towns, their way of living and thinking, their relation to the other parts of France and the clichés and prejudices about both sides. The Nord-Pas-de-Calais is more than just a part of France, it is a country within a country and a culture within a culture. I have been in this region for some weeks during an exchange program and I can tell that those people living there are mostly open-minded, very sympathetic and have many reasons to be proud of their region. I really like this movie as it reminds me of a few very positive and unforgettable memories. And I like the movie because it is different and finally a French film that doesn't present us Paris over and over again. The France is way more than just Paris and there are many beautiful and unique regions and people to discover and this successful and charming movie shows this to all the people out there.

For everyone that is interested in a touching, emotional and simply profound comedy movie or anyone that likes foreign cultures and lifestyles, this unique movie is an absolute masterpiece. I hope that other French regions will follow this example and make similar movies in the future and take the focus off Paris a little bit.

I didn't know what to expect from Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis. The story sounded all a bit cliché to me but since a lot of my friends in Belgium used their expressions after watching the movie I thought I give it a shot. And honestly I did like the movie. I don't know though if it will work for English speaking people or other languages than French in fact. Because if you don't understand or speak the French language a lot of humor will make no sense at all, even translated. Because most of the humor comes from the dialect they speak in the North of France, close to the Belgian border. For me it was all easy to understand since I'm from Belgium but I have my doubt it will have the same effect on other people not understanding French. Basically the story is a guy moving from the South of France to the North and of course he has the usual prejudice about it being cold there, and full of a bit retarded people. It's like somebody from California was forced to go live in Alaska. Kad Merad and Dany Boon are playing the main characters and they did a good job. Don't expect it to be a great story, it's just a funny view between the differences of North and South.

I saw this movie in Lille, France, two weeks after the premiere, and the movie theaters were full. Everyone wanted to see it. (After two weeks, 15 million viewers. That's a lot.) Even though they sometimes spoke Ch'ti it was quite easy to understand, and many parts would have been funny in any language. I really recommend everyone to see it, no matter if you speak French or not. Many of the jokes with words (jeu de mots) are only comprehensible if you speak French, but it's still great. The point with the movie isn't just the language, another aspect is the prejudices the Southerns have about the Northerns. Which can be found in many more countries than France. I really think that it's a movie everyone can find something to like about. Maybe the French over-hyped it, but it's still a superb movie.

With 17 million viewers, the 1966 comedic hit "La Grande Vadrouille" reigned on the French box-office for more than four decades. But the king was finally dethroned by a sleeper hit with a catchy title "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis", starring Dany Boon and Kad Merad.

Both actors aren't on the same league than the iconic Louis de Funès and Bourvil duo. Yet for some reason, the film met with immediate success thanks to … call it as you want, Internet, buzz, word-to-mouth … something that definitely touched the hearts of 20 million viewers, one third of French population, which makes me realize that "La Grande Vadrouille" proportionally did better.

But let's not pollute this review with numeracy, like I said for "Intouchables", the film benefited from the virtual circle of success, becoming a phenomenon, something people came at less to see it, than to see what's so great about it. And as an aspiring film-maker, I've got to hand it to Dany Boon for having have made a film with such an effect. Where "Welcome to the Ch'tis" worked, many others have failed, especially those that tried to follow some guidelines for a successful comedy, I guess what the "Ch'tis" have is called sincerity and good intentions, a sort of Capraesque 'feel-good' quality, praising the unique charm of small little towns and their caring and loving inhabitants.

It's sincere because the film is set in the North, which is to France what the Midwest is to USA. To avoid repetition, I invite you to check my review of "Les Tuche" to get my idea about the region. Anyway, "Ch'tis" (referring to the inhabitants) had a story to tell, the story of a cocky and arrogant manager sleeping on the laurels of his success under Mediterranean sun until he's 'promoted' to the North, a place full of hard-drinking rednecks with incomprehensible accents, and a sky depressingly gray. The film does exaggerate the reputation of the North and make it sound like a sort of doomed place, I guess this is to be taken in a humorous light, a running gag that should have culminated with Michel Galabru's cameo, describing with his Southern accent, North as if it was a haunted mansion.

But as the singer said (quote from the 'Tuche' review) : "People from the North have in their eyes the blue lacking in their setting and in their heart the sun that is not shining". And that's the shining Philippe (Kad Merad) will discover. It's a coming-to-realization that thankfully happens very quickly, revealing that the man was prejudiced but not a bigot, he was probably troubled by his marital problems and sleeping in the house of his employee, a gentle postman named Antoine (Dany Boon) didn't help, nor facing the menacing stare of his mother reminding me of Agnes Skinner, and played by one of the most defining figures of the North: Line Renaud.

The breakfast is rather disastrous full of Maroualle (a particularly smelly local cheese) cheap coffee, and a series of dialogs whose accents are, so to speak, accentuated to have the same effects on the laughs. My wife, coming from the North, laughed more than me. There had to be a film about the Ch'tis, a sort of adventure in a new world with a heart inside. The ice is finally broken when Pierre decides to follow Antoine during his workday, to prevent him from drinking, naturally he ends up as drunk as him, contributing to the film's defining picture, an enchanting moment of male-bonding, friendship and mutual understanding. I can't blame a film for trying to evoke so many positive feelings.

But the plot weakens when Philippe tries to hide the truth from his wife (Zoé Felix) and to make it worse, she decides to visit him, and then comes a sequence belonging to another film, where all the local people act according to the very stereotypes that insult them, and the wife buys it (not too long, but still). Since the point is to prove that they're not dumb dim-witted people, would they take part of such a senseless joke if they weren't? The climax occurs when Antoine finally find the nerve to declare his love from the belfry where he works as the bell-ringer (what was so difficult anyway?), and as if Phillipe's bell was rang in the same time, he takes the trademark Post yellow trunk to the South in order to apologize to his wife. This is when the film gets too conventional for such a hit, and I felt like cheated a bit.

But I could have forgiven that if it wasn't for one thing, one thing the film lacks: a punch line. There's no comedy without a simple joke, a smile, a laugh at the end, but as if we hadn't enough emotions, it had to feature the cringe-worthy sight of Philippe weeping like a kid. And Antoine's triumph "see, we cry twice, when we come and when we leave", all right, when he told him that on the beach, we could see that coming from a mile, so why not just make an effort to surprise us? A film that ambitious could have at least been kind enough to have a small, a frail, a timid little twist. It's unfortunate when the funniest scene of the film I spoil (let's just say, it features a wheelchair) happens so soon in the beginning.

And the polemics raised when the film only grabbed one nomination for Best Screenplay earning the Academy of Césars an accusation of snobbishness, against popular cinema, which is not totally untrue, but still, how many nominations "The Visitors" had, or "Amelie", or "Intouchables" these are far superior film that deserved to be the number one. "Bievenue Chez les Ch'tis" was probably released at the right time, about the right place, and its genuineness touched people. But this is far from being the greatest French comedy ever, simply the highest-grossing.

Finally a movie that is not the usual American comedies! Not judging the American comedies of course, I love them, but is a different movie for you to watch. Incredible story, different story, and really funny.

I would say that this movie is in the best ten comedies i've ever seen. A lot of adventure, comedy, a little drama, but amazing to watch.

I started watching this movie with no good expectations about it. I taught- French aren't funny- turns out they are really funny.

Again, don't listen to the bad reviews about this movie, even if you do, there's not much bad reviews about it(that's how good it is).

Be prepared for a good french movie. Good film!

Dany Boon's "Bienvenue chez les ch'tis" ("Welcome to the Sticks" in English) reminded me of "My Cousin Vinny" and "Doc Martin", with a big-city person coming to a small town and having trouble understanding the mores. In this case, a man from southern France gets sent to a small town in the north and having trouble with their accents (to say the least). While there are a lot of challenges for the guy to overcome, he's just as foreign to the townspeople.

In addition to the humor, the movie also looks at the stereotypes that people can have of those from certain regions (i.e., in the US, northerners tend to view southerners as ignorant yahoos). It's not the greatest French movie that I've ever seen, but it does a good job addressing the prejudices that the people throughout France have of each other. You just know that the French have countless stereotypes of foreigners. I recommend it.

This is a very funny film by any country's standards. It DOES assume you know something about French geographic stereotypes, but if you have a French buddy by your side (or you have an Aunt who used to live there like I did), then they can clarify it to you really quick. Here's my quick lesson: Southern France - Rich, pastoral, civilized, good...Northern France - the boonies. Of course, that's the prevailing stereotype played for laughs, but the laughs come not from the truth of it, but because of the opposite. And then it gets even more fun and freewheeling. If French is not your mother tongue, the English subtitles do a good job it translating not just standard French, but country accents and slang. You see that there is a difference between the way people talk in different regions. The set-up of the movie is funny and the end pay-off is very satisfying. The characters are all memorable and warm. There is no bad guy, just people who grow to care about each other. In the end, it is about embracing people for who they are as much as it is about standing up for yourself. And it is sooooooo nice to finally see a modern continental European movie without a gratuitous sex scene. The continent could learn quite a bit about filming innocence and whimsy and not always depicting gritty realism. This movie is a great comedy!

Well, being French, I can only feel very sorry that this minor production becomes the most successful French movie ever. What a poor image for the French cinema...I'm still wondering how we have ended up which such a situation. This success is just crazy and inexplicable. We have to be honest : this movie is far far away from the best French comedies, and this for many reasons : the actors are mediocre, the jokes are redundant and foreseeable, the whole thing is just commonplace, the love story is soppy...etc...Sometimes you smile, but very rarely you laugh; and quite often you feel embarrassed, since the scene just doesn't work. I was with my girlfriend, she felt exactly the same. And having discussed it with other people, most of them do not understand either. A good advice : avoid it, and go back to true classics of the French comedy : le dîner de cons, les Bronzés, la grande vadrouille, les Visiteurs...

Fish-out-of-water stories have almost unlimited potential. There's no limit to the quirks you can give to the inhabitants of the place where the hero winds up. "Welcome to the Sticks" is one of those movies, and the odd inhabitants of the Bergues (specifically the post office workers), make for a charming and unexpected comedy.

Phillippe Abrams (Kal Merad) is a post office manager, and his job requires him to move every few years. He really wants to move south, where it is warmer, but after a failed attempt to cheat his way there, he is shipped up north instead--not a good thing because of its hellish reputation. When he gets there though, he realizes that not everything is what he thought it would be.

Kal Merad is terrific as Phillippe. He's a good man who is open to new ideas, once he realizes what they are. However, he's no Jim Carrey; his attempts at pratfalls and neuroses fall flat. Fortuantely, though, that's not all he's required to do. He's easily likable because he acts in a way anyone else would. Dany Bloom, despite wearing three hats (actor, co-writer, and director) makes Antoine a lovable character. He's frequently funny, and always sympathetic right from the get-go. When he's troubled, we feel sad. When he's being funny, we always laugh. Anne Marivin is adorable as Antoine's love interest, and Zoe Felix is always believable as Phillippe's cynical wife who won't believe her husband.

The main problem is that for the first forty minutes, "Welcome to the Sticks" is flat. There are laughs to be sure, but I laughed because I knew I was supposed to laugh, not because what just happened was especially funny. After that, though, the film finds its groove and brings about a lot of laughs, including two flat-out hilarious sequences. Of course, one has to accept a huge plot device to get some of the humor, but that's not hard because the film's earnest and likable tone makes you want to go along with the flow.

The film's major asset is it's charm, and that makes it easier to swallow everything that happens in it. Special credit has to go to Dany Boon for accomplishing this and keeping it consistent throughout the film.

However flat the first part of the movie might be, the better part of the movie is good enough to warrant a viewing.

France is not a homogeneous country at all. It is full of prejudices, different dialects habits in almost each district. The film perfectly plays with these. Admittingly the viewer has to know France and the French habits. To my opinion the most characteristic scene is the welcome dinner at the best restaurant at Bergues where Philippe is introduced to the local dialect by his new colleagues. When he tries to place the order he is not understood by the waiter with the argument that he is from Paris. Another typical scene is the welcome reception to Philippes wife Julie, where all prejudices about "the Nord" are put in 10 minutes film. Too funny. Beside the main narration line the film tells a story about friendship, love and the beauty of the simple life.

Finally we went to see this movie on the (not-so) big screen of a local art-house cinema. I definitely enjoyed it, but it's nothing truly special. The humour ranged from predictable to quite funny, avoiding boredom. Some slightly deeper themes were touched on lightly. The actors were decent, especially the two male leads, but largely restricted to typecast roles. While at first the jokes about the prejudices and clichés within France are funny enough, I would have preferred a slightly more subtle treatment. On the positive side, the movie has no delusions of grandeur, it tells its simple story in a nice straight forward way. I guess some of its enormous success in France stems from the fact that for once we don't have Parisians as main characters but everyday people from 'France profonde'.

All in all, more a pleasant rosé, nice to drink but not really lasting, than a premier cru.

If this film meets such a great success, it's just because people recognize themselves in those characters. Well, they are not politically correct (alcoolism) but in these days when life is so difficult for the middle and low class French people, this movie is refreshing and helps you forget everything else. It's also a great lesson of tolerance. Nobody should never have pre-built ideas about a country or an area and his people. Dany Boon describes the world he knows. It's the same world that a lot of French people know, maybe not in Paris, but in the villages, in the country. For once, we have a movie with real people, real life stories of simple people. And maybe people wants to see this from time to time, instead of crimes and violence. Personnaly, I think this movie approaches the Marcel Pagnol movies. Two days ago, 12,592,762 seats where sold. 12,592,762 people cannot be wrong.

I'm French and it's true that without the subtitles, I couldn't follow the dialogues in this regional language. The movie has some good funny lines about this strange french but overall, this movie is not worthy to be the 1st French comedy of all time! I didn't laugh that much because the movie is just overdosed with good feelings and the unavoidable happy ending! When the discovery of the natives is done, the movie is about helping romances and it lacks of originality! In addition, I didn't find the locations to be enjoyable as they are indeed a bit dreadful! The cast doesn't feel cool and natural so at the end, I won't repeat it the experience in a long time! It's true that France is the country where every region is attached to a particular culture that isn't french but for a better comedy about this reality, prefer the other movie of Boon or Mickael Youn's one!

At times the plot is not very credible as the story goes in the Internet era when finding information about another part of a country and dialects spoken there should not be a nuclear science... Although I have experienced French arrogance and poor knowledge of geography, I have never heard or noticed that North-Eastern part has been considered somewhat "low" (vis-a-vis North-West). Nord-Pas de Calais is almost Belgium and there are lots of beautiful cities and townships; OK, I agree, that climate leaves a lot to be desired :)

There are 2 funny groups of scenes: a) on the postal route and b) welcoming the wife, when the 2 main male actors are able to show their skills and brilliance... In short, Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis is OK watching, but a bit overrated; Intouchables is much better. At least for a non-Frenchman like me.

I laughed out loud with this move, and certainly, I didn't expect it.

Sometimes we forget how important it is to have a good plot. Nothing turns out badly, but there are some happy surprises. The best is how the Ch'Tis play on the "brute, simple, vulgar" stereotype to their advantage. It'd be a crime to say more. Witness the "cat as food", spitting, Philippe's appalling house decoration.

Another thing I liked it is that they don't "become" somebody else. I mean, in the end you see people turn out and behave as what they are. The Abrams are not Ch'Tis, and they are wary of outsiders. I'm not saying anything important, but I think sociologically it makes it more valuable and respectful. It has the perfect moderate amount of conflict for making it interesting besides the "chic vs coarse" theme. Antoine's induced alcoholism, his love interest for Annabelle, his overbearing but loving "maman", Julie's neurosis, always finding fault at everything Philippe does, him lying all the time, finally for no reason.

Kad Merad is one of the best comedy actors I've ever seen. He's got a natural talent for mimicking and copying all their local pronunciation, accents, and even ways of having fun. His scam with "neurological twitching" included was masterful.

Dany Boon is of course perfect, his face says it all. They have good talks despite being utterly different. Great scene of male friendship, that form of art, at the beach and "not crying" later. His two sidekicks steal the show. Even their way of dressing is just perfect. Both young women of the film are beautiful, specially Anne Marivin, always bustling with activity. I'd have liked Zoé Félix to have more to say than just grouch and be a pain, until her nice acknowledgment near the end (that she may also have something to do with all this). The funny copper Patrick Bosso has one of those vital small roles that differentiate a good from a great film. Notice how the speed at which he drives is a function of Philippe's moods :).

Line Renaud, from "Le silence de l'épervier" (TV) among others, is beautiful as an intrusive and contradictory (witness Anabelle's face at the post office, the only time they "speak") mum who, in a way, "only wants the best for her sun", but harasses poor Antoine following him to his dead end job with food and constantly fearing he'd be ill but, her serious talk with him was so matter-of-fact, (while peeling potatoes, mind you!) that his face of relief afterwards is worth the price of the ticket.

If you have family or friends in the province, you've probably feel as Philippe does. They are wary, probably will give you a couple headaches with their "sense of humour" and yes, they "eat strangely", but with their heart and warmth they'll probably more than make up for it.

Try to follow their French. I'd say 60% of the fun is there. It's carefully geared so as for you to "learn the codes". They even teach you how to speak and "translate" the language, twice. Which consists of letter replacement and pronunciation as well as particles that just "don't mean anything", social rules "they invite you in when you drop by", and even intonation (the "from the guts" interjection in the end). In short, if you play moderate attention you'll end up speaking like' em. Or at least, understanding it perfectly and using its funny way of speaking outside the cinema. I suppose it's a matter of why and how we learn. They are SO friendly and honest, these people, that you end up wanting them. And when you feel safe and in company, you learn twice, right :)!

"dbdumonteil" on IMDb as usual, wrote a great review, I won't touch on the topics he did.

I'm very glad that this film is a commercial success. I also liked the latest Asterix iteration, but this one probably has more humane content. Here in Argentina we can't be so picky about European/ French cinema. What comes is little and far between, so one just watches everything. This, with "Le diner des cons" is probably the best French comedy I've seen. The "Les Bronzés" series was also smashing, but it somehow lacked "somebody to identify with". Something this film has plenty of.

Wisely it doesn't even touch social issues like unemployment and redneck political views. Consequently, achieving a bigger, almost universal "market share".

Enjoy!

This is the perfect comedy to light up a boring afternoon or evening spent at home with snacks and something to drink. I laughed here and there and generally had a good time.

A light and simple comedy about a Post Office employee who is transferred to a position in North of France -in a region with linguistic and character particularities- in punishment for some misbehavior at work, leaving his family behind. What at first seems a curse, becomes little by little a very good life.

This a movie in which the French self-deprecate themselves, or at least one of their regions, but with great acceptance and love. That's always a healthy exercise and very propitious to get some laughs especially if you see the movie without dubbing.

This is an enjoyable, funny and entertaining movie played by the usual actors lately in vogue in French cinema, all good in their respective roles.

It was a huge hit here (France) and I have a feeling it was due to the fact that it was released during one of the rainiest summers in years. In fact it's one of those films that people who should know better go and see and then tell you "it's a lot better than I was expecting it to be" - but it's not.

I also felt like I'd seen all the 'best' parts of the film already thanks to the hype on TV.

The actors are actually OK, though definitely under-used, and once you get past the Joke - the guy from the south not understanding the northern dialect - the rest of the film is very thin on the ground.

It's the sort of film you'd watch on holiday if it's too rainy to go to the beach.

As a French person (from the south) I thought that this film is SO bad, SO poor, The only bit that made me laugh was the bit with "Michel Galabru".. Now, this guy is a true and excellent french actor.. However, Dany Boon and Kad Merad (whom I've never heard of before) were so bad, my god!! It is not surprising that France is going through such a bad time at the moment as it is populated with millions of manipulated morons having no more than 8 years old mental age!! Also, it is said that the film cost 11 million Euros!! But how the hell they spent such an enormous amount of money?? The film is just a very cheap 80s style film.. I guess the actors got a real fat salary out of this!!