ada
the leading man is my tpye
Matcollis
This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
Mehdi Hoffman
There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
shantiq
Paulette is Bernadette Lafont's swansong. She moved into spirit a year or so after its completion aged 74. And yet in this; a tale in which a pensioner in an unnamed "banlieue" decides to sell drugs to pay her debt provoking the hilarity of her French Arab and Black neighbours as this little old lady approaches them with her business proposition ... it will also provoke the viewer's ...
Lafont is arguably one of the most important French actresses of the 60's 70's and up to the end; she embodied the spirit of Punk before the word even meant what it meant in 76/77. There are photos of her in the early 60s in which she has short hair and black nail-varnish looking like a proto Siouxsie Sioux; but her spirit was always antagonistic irreverent at-odds with the status quo and the bourgeoisie she came from.
The film is by no means a masterpiece; but as a swansong from such a great actress she is here as magnetic as she was in La Maman et La Putain or Une Belle Fille Comme Moi
jdgw
I wasn't expecting much from the movie. Just wanted to burn time and the title had been sitting there for a awhile... And it has a such a low score in IMDb. So... I think I like it much more than 6.6.It soon got my attention and as the movie unraveled I was quickly mind focused on the movie. It has its edge with humor and funny outcomes of particular situations. While the film itself its predictable, how it gets there was very hilarious. The whole scenery and cast is very appropriate to the story. Not to mention how it ends.Spectacular!I very much enjoyed the film and would encourage friends to see it.
dbdumonteil
Strange that nobody in France has reviewed this little comedy yet;it was made by Jérôme Enrico ,Robert's son (who directed some memorable works such as "Au Cœur De La Vie" and "Les Aventuriers").One of Bernadette Lafont's last parts ,she really shines in her portrayal of an embittered (and shameless) retired woman ,who has only got 600 Euros per month to live ;that's not a minor detail:a lot of retired people do not have enough to live in France and the charity organizations are currently working overtime (The Restaurants Du Cœur have seen their number raise by 10% this year.)Paulette is too proud to beg!during the cast and credits ,we see the story of her life and how she lost her restaurant which (infamy!) fell into aliens' hands!A catholic ,she often goes to confession-and the priest is a black man ,another sign of the times!-.She is at odds with her daughter ,who married a black cop,and she despises her charming little Grandson she calls "Bamboula"(offensive racist term ).By chance,she discovers that drugs mean a lot of dough;so why not becoming a new dealer in town? "The police would never suspect an old lady " she says to the local big shot called Vito;but the young dealers around do not like unfair competition and they tell her so. So she's got to find a new way to sell her stuff:unintentionally ,her adorable grandson will give her the solution to all her problems ;besides she is a fine pastry cook....As a poor honest woman ,she was nasty and hateful;the more illegal she gets ,the more human she becomes;gone is her racism ;a redemption tale indeed,morally and physically :the ugly old lady is transformed into a coquette still fine-looking woman.Although the movie loses steam after the casino episode ,it's Reductio Ad Absurdum that evil can spawn good and even help ....fix the roof of the Church.
Karl Self
This is the French take on the surprisingly popular story of "staid grandmother becomes dope peddler". In this case: A widow hankers back to her personal belle époque when she ran a successful restaurant with her husband. Now, her husband's drunk himself to death, Asians have taken over her restaurant, her daughter is estranged and money's too tight to mention. The once lively Paulette has become lonely and depressed and blames it all on the immigrants. In true Ayn Rand spirit, Paulette then decides to use her entrepreneurial skills and sell the old ganja, even if this means cooperating with -- well, the very same criminal immigrants she dreads so much.The story is fairly linear and takes few twists and turns, but because of the great dialogues and great acting, it's nevertheless entertaining. Like a great dish, if it tastes great you won't complain just because you've had it before. And like chocolate, I like my movies the better the darker they come.
