Bye Bye Morons Review Movie
Bye Bye Morons Review
In one scene in Bye Bye Morons, Terry Gilliam appears in a role of weapons dealer on an informational commercial, selling shotguns and pistols with his the same enthusiasm that he has for his own. Gilliam's appearance, as well being a prominent on-screen tribute in tribute to Terry Jones, is a symbol of the writer-director-actor Albert Dupontel's comedy with a heart that takes some of the ingenuity and bizarre enthusiasm that is Monty Python and injects it into a tale of human beings who are who are at a loss. If not all the jokes land, it is the kind of crowd-pleasing French comedy that stands as a corrective to the pervading UK view of Gallic cinema as Juliette-Binoche-Stares-Pensively-Out-Of-Windows movies.
The zany plot brings together two characters who are desperate and disjointed Hairdresser Suze Trappet (Virginie Efira) who, suffering from an auto-immune illness is determined to find her son whom she lost at the age of 15 as well as IT Security expert Jean-Baptiste Cuchas (Dupontel) was ejected from his favorite job by younger, more ambitious people, who plan to kill himself in an online video link-up shouting at his bosses "Bye-bye morons!" as he shoots himself. They meet when Cuchas plans go wrong and Suze requires a computer-savvy bod to find the documents regarding her son.
Dupontel masterfully plays with the absurd elements, without ever reducing the emotional impact.
It's a smooth, enjoyable start , with an enjoyable slow-motion flashback to Suze's early years — which turns into a cross-city chase where Suze and Jean-Baptiste solicit the assistance of an archivist who is blind (a scene-stealing turn from Nicolas Marie) to help discover the missing boy's contact info. We get the last minute escapes, a frantic vehicle chase (of course the blind archivist takes behind the steering wheel) and then a pause for breathing (Jackie Berroyer's obstetrician is affected by Alzheimer's disease, cannot recall the most important details about Suze's infant). Dupontel shrewdly juggles the comical elements, without sacrificing the emotional impact and as the film progresses towards its final third, we are rewarded with an emotional stretch that is believable and genuine.
It's not all that effective as the jumble of topics including the crushing character of bureaucracy (hello Gilliam's Brazil) to the stifling nature of romance through the perils of living a life without a digital footprint scattered. What stands out is the growing bond to Suze and Jean-Baptiste. Their chemistry is displayed through Efira dupontel and Efira. They're the glue which holds the high-octane thrill together. Get on board.
