Opening Day: 17 January 2008 at THE PICTUREHOUSE

Synopsis:

Jalil cannot believe it. The day he becomes the winner of the TV game show "Mr. Average", a beautiful, kind and funny young woman falls into his arms and life starts to look like a dream come true. So how could he imagine that his new beloved Claire is actually a budding actress, who has been hired by a top marketing company to deceive him through seduction and share his life and his 'average' opinions with her bosses for the company's benefit. However for Claire, the challenge turns out to be more difficult than she originally imagined and she starts to get very confused about her convictions. While living the lie, she starts growing feelings for Jalil, who is a genuinely kind and talented guy that is completely unaware of how important his opinions have become to the public and the most powerful man in the country...

Movie Review:

I have always empathized with movie characters like Mr. Average. Everything in his life is, well, so average. He’s really got nothing to complain about: there’s a secure but average job, a nice but not luxurious apartment to live in, and a comfortable but somewhat unfulfilling lifestyle. He is probably one of the many people you and I know, a Mr. Average who lives by the day with nothing spectacular to report.

So when a French movie that promises to satirize the society we live in comes along, I was excited to see what new ground it’ll break.

Our protagonist, a simple man named Jalil, wins a TV game and his average life suddenly becomes a perfect picture consisting of a newfound love that he can only dream about and a new apartment of his own. But the clueless guy probably hasn’t seen Jim Carrey in The Truman Show (1998) – doesn’t he know that when something so perfect happens to you, it’s probably media manipulation? Thankfully, upon realization, Jalil turns the situation in his favor and although single again, he becomes a real star.

The premise does sound interesting, because there are ideas of public opinion, politics and media influence interweaved into the romantic comedy. However, having seen other popular and ingenious French films like Jean Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie (2001) and Francois Ozon’s 8 Women (2002), this Pierre-Paul Renders- directed movie seems, well, so average.

Other than a few scenes of inventive setups (the President of France comes to your apartment for a dinner party with the First Lady? You must be kidding), there aren’t many other niftily inspired laughs. Maybe it’s an issue of high expectations from French productions, but I was expecting more creatively clever jokes from the movie other than those we have seen in Hollywood movies.

Credit still goes to scriptwriter Render and Denis Lapiere though, because the last 10-odd minutes of the movie gets the viewer into the thinking mode about relevant issues like opinion polls, product marketing strategies and consumerism. Points also go to the two leads Khalid Maadour (Jalil), who convincingly makes me believe that an average-looking man can still make it big in the society; and Caroline Dhavernas (the mock girlfriend of Jalil’s dreams), who is likeable enough although “the bitch” was toying with poor Mr. Average’s feelings. The couple’s chemistry shines in the innovative last scene, which saves the movie from being forgettable

If anything, the 97-minute movie will also have you thinking about how we often part of the majority. Guys, if you are part of the 68 per cent of men who use the last urinal in the toilet (a statistical figure shown early in the movie – watch out for it!), then you a Mr. Average, well, at least when it comes to visiting the washroom.

Movie Rating:

(A simple and sometimes thoughtful French movie that goes easy on the mind)

Review by John Li