MICROBE AND GASOLINE (A-minus) - This endlessly charming French film from Michel Gondry follows a pair of middle school outcasts who build their own vehicle to escape their families and schoolmates.
This is a return to form for Gondry, who splashed with his script for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" in 2004 but who has been hit-and-miss as a director, starting with "The Science of Sleep" in 2006. We skipped "Mood Indigo" in 2013, but the word was that his quirkiness was producing unfocused films. He lost control of "The We and the I" (2012), another drama about aimless youth; he did solid works with the documentaries "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" (2005) and "Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy" (2013). He aimed for mainstream acceptance with "Be Kind Rewind" and "The Green Hornet." Here, he back to playing small ball, which is more in his wheelhouse.
We hang out with budding artist Daniel (dubbed Microbe because of his small size) and the mechanically inclined Theo (Gasoline, for the smell he absorbs from working on engines), two kids who get picked on at school. They fall in as friends, and Theo comes up with a plan to build a car that can get them out of town for the summer. To get past the hangup of having to register such a vehicle, they fashion it to look like a house. The idea is that if they see cops coming, they could pull to the side of the road, drop a couple of side flaps and make it look like a quaint little home.
If this sounds twee beyond belief, it pretty much is. But Gondry takes this precious premise and somehow convinces you to suspend belief in key places and indulge him and his two young stars (Ange Dargent as Daniel and Theophile Baquet as Theo). As their parents back home fret (Daniel's mother is played by a wallflowerish Audrey Tatou), Daniel and Theo go in search of adventure and self-discovery. Daniel has a crush on a classmate, and her summer home is added to their route.
Otherwise, they dodge a few creepy adults, get a little revenge on older bullies, and banter and bicker. Both boys are genuinely charming. Baquet shows deft physical comedic skills, especially in a scene where Daniel's crude artwork gets a gallery opening but nobody shows up; Theo comes by and navigates the room in mime as if it's crowded with guests. Dargent bridles with an urgent yearning. Together, they are as adept as any current comedy team you can think of.
Gondry's script sparkles with insight and nuance. Theo sums up their existence to his pal with this line: "We're not exactly normal: you the hopeless romantic and me the grease monkey,” Again, this could have been cloying and self-indulgent. Instead, it's his most effective story since "Eternal Sunshine," and its his most adept work behind the camera. This was the most pleasant surprise of the summer.
LES COWBOYS (B) - A fascinating little film about obsession and prejudice, "Les Cowboys" feels like a missed opportunity.
IMDb provides a succinct plot summary: "When his daughter goes missing from their prairie town east of France, Alain and his young son, Kid, head out to find her. The journey takes the men to some far-off and unsettling places in what begins to feel like an endless quest."
Alain (craggy Francois Damiens) is first seen at an American-style hoedown, exchanging occasional awkward glances and exchanges with his dour daughter, Kelly (Iliana Zabeth). After the event, she runs off with her Muslim boyfriend, and Alain's obsession in tracking her down is immediate. He grabs her brother, Kid (Finnegan Oldfield), and hits the road, confronting some bad guys and descending into a vortex that will lead to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Halfway through the film, the focus abruptly shifts to Kid, who takes over the hunt. In Pakistan, Kid meets up with an unnamed rogue American fixer, played to the hilt by John C. Reilly. Kid ends up in a prison in Pakistan after confronting his sister's husband; in the cell next to him is another of the husband's wives, whose grave Kid is ordered to dig.
What follows is an improbable turn of events that assures the audience that western culture is sure to win out in the end. A final scene that briefly brings Kid and his sister face-to-face drives that home while offering one of the few genuine moments of emotion in the film.
This misfire is the directorial debut of Thomas Bidegain, known more as the screenwriter for noted director Jacques Audiard -- including "A Prophet," "Rust and Bone" and "Dheepan." But his transition to director is a stumble out of the gate. The script here suffers from a few clunks and is too often bloated and unfocused. (It feels longer than 104 minutes.) Bidegain previously could rely on someone like Audiard to take his script and hone and shape it. With "Les Cowboys," Bidegain shows himself to be a writer in search of a director.
This is an update to the classic John Ford western "The Searchers," a hole in our knowledge of film history. It will be interesting down the road to check out that source material and see whether it's the idea or the execution that is the problem.
BONUS TRACK
The "Microbe and Gasoline" trailer:
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