"L'odyssée", also known as "Jacques", is a French 2-hour movie from this year written and directed by Jerôme Salle, the man who wrote the original work that the Depp/Jolie movie "The Tourist" is based on. And even without major awards recognition, this film we have here is still among Salle's most known now. This is probably mostly due to the decent cast (Wilson, Niney, Tautou) and also because of the popularity of the central character here. It is about Jacques-Yves Cousteau, one of the biggest explorers, especially when it comes to sea and underwater expeditions. But this is only partially what the film is about. There is major focus in here on how he struggles in the relationship with his son Philippe and how it takes a major change in JYC's approach to his profession until he finally manages to bond with his son. We also find out about the man's relationship with women, especially his wife (played by Audrey Tautou from "Amélie"). And of course the job plays a really big role. We see how Cousteau becomes a big star in the United States and you could see this movie here almost as a biopic, even if it ends a long time before his death.
And still, this film is almost as much about the character played by Pierre Niney (one of France's rising stars right now), namely Cousteau's son. We see him in his very early years, but also later on as an adult and how his approach to environment and science is fundamentally different compared to his father's idea. The professional life of Commandant Cousteau constantly seems to get in the way between the two. Anyway, overall, I enjoyed the watch here. Maybe it was a good decision by Salle to focus more on the conflicts between the characters and keep the environmental message in the background for almost the entire film, but then I'd also have hoped for a different ending as these last words shown on the screen sound almost as if this was the core message of the film, which it definitely wasn't. So it is not a perfect watch, but still a fairly good one and I learned many new things about Cousteau, his life and his family. The real life characters make it an even more exciting watch. And lets be honest, there is some major irony to Cousteau Jr.'s death caused by technology and he still ends up dead in the water, a reference that shows how these two worlds simply do not fit together in terms of what nature may have in mind for us. I liked all of the acting in here and while there was an occasional weakness in the story, I certainly give this film a thumbs-up. This film has probably the best trailer I have seen all year, so maybe my expectations were simply too high. In any case, it was a satisfying watch and I think that you should check it out if you get a chance to see it. It also never drags, which is a great achievement for a film with this runtime.
And still, this film is almost as much about the character played by Pierre Niney (one of France's rising stars right now), namely Cousteau's son. We see him in his very early years, but also later on as an adult and how his approach to environment and science is fundamentally different compared to his father's idea. The professional life of Commandant Cousteau constantly seems to get in the way between the two. Anyway, overall, I enjoyed the watch here. Maybe it was a good decision by Salle to focus more on the conflicts between the characters and keep the environmental message in the background for almost the entire film, but then I'd also have hoped for a different ending as these last words shown on the screen sound almost as if this was the core message of the film, which it definitely wasn't. So it is not a perfect watch, but still a fairly good one and I learned many new things about Cousteau, his life and his family. The real life characters make it an even more exciting watch. And lets be honest, there is some major irony to Cousteau Jr.'s death caused by technology and he still ends up dead in the water, a reference that shows how these two worlds simply do not fit together in terms of what nature may have in mind for us. I liked all of the acting in here and while there was an occasional weakness in the story, I certainly give this film a thumbs-up. This film has probably the best trailer I have seen all year, so maybe my expectations were simply too high. In any case, it was a satisfying watch and I think that you should check it out if you get a chance to see it. It also never drags, which is a great achievement for a film with this runtime.