Francois Ozon's debut feature aims at black farce and satire, but fails on the both counts.
Structuring the film as sitcom a la I Love Lucy or the appalling BBC show No Place At Home (anyone remember or are you still taking medication to forget?), Ozon is presumably aiming for scabrous wit. However, at 80 minutes, Sitcom feels overly long and mediocre.
The family unit of mum, dad, son and daughter are wealthy and spoilt. They are in a rut and need a rat to get them out of it. On returning from work, the father, a man with a thousand platitudes - only converses in clichés such as "slow and steady wins the race" (very reminiscent of the excellent Heathers) - gives his closet homosexual son, Nicolas, a rodent to keep him company.
The rat is a catalyst you see. Once you pick up it's vermin aura, you become your true self or something. Subsequently, nerdy Nicolas announces he's gay at a family dinner party and duly 'cops-off' with the maid's black husband, a gym instructor named Abdu (Jules-Emmanuel Eyoum Deido). Trust me, it sounds funnier than it actually is. The Coen Brothers would have done this dark tale far more justice.
Anyway, the insidious little rat continues to work its black magic on the other members of the family, until there are attempted suicides, sadomasochistic sexual forays, "in-home orgies" and incest, courtesy of mother and son. All rather appalling, but somehow because the characters are so trite, the scenes leave one indifferent. Maybe, that's the point? But, surely it also needs to be funny?
Ultimately, Sitcom is a tiresome distraction, which only disturbs in the metamorphosis finale. Most unappetising fare.
Ben Walsh
Structuring the film as sitcom a la I Love Lucy or the appalling BBC show No Place At Home (anyone remember or are you still taking medication to forget?), Ozon is presumably aiming for scabrous wit. However, at 80 minutes, Sitcom feels overly long and mediocre.
The family unit of mum, dad, son and daughter are wealthy and spoilt. They are in a rut and need a rat to get them out of it. On returning from work, the father, a man with a thousand platitudes - only converses in clichés such as "slow and steady wins the race" (very reminiscent of the excellent Heathers) - gives his closet homosexual son, Nicolas, a rodent to keep him company.
The rat is a catalyst you see. Once you pick up it's vermin aura, you become your true self or something. Subsequently, nerdy Nicolas announces he's gay at a family dinner party and duly 'cops-off' with the maid's black husband, a gym instructor named Abdu (Jules-Emmanuel Eyoum Deido). Trust me, it sounds funnier than it actually is. The Coen Brothers would have done this dark tale far more justice.
Anyway, the insidious little rat continues to work its black magic on the other members of the family, until there are attempted suicides, sadomasochistic sexual forays, "in-home orgies" and incest, courtesy of mother and son. All rather appalling, but somehow because the characters are so trite, the scenes leave one indifferent. Maybe, that's the point? But, surely it also needs to be funny?
Ultimately, Sitcom is a tiresome distraction, which only disturbs in the metamorphosis finale. Most unappetising fare.
Ben Walsh