Untouchable

There's a lack of insight, so it remains a very briskly shot and brilliantly humorous comedy. The French pulled their punches, fudged the script and avoided the clichéd philosophising in luminous Paris and classic gritty street stories. Intouchables is a fresh ride full of emotions and spontaneous improvisation of the main characters, without pathos and sentimentality. It's not reality, but neither is it beyond reality. A hit about right in the middle, with the heart in the right place. (29/07/2016)

This is one of the series of nice and positive movies that doesn’t follow the templates and negative atmosphere of contemporary movies but that tells a true story that you will keep taking with a pinch of salt, all the while knowing that the movie is really close to the truth. It was really a pleasure to watch this film, both actors put in really excellent performances. Omar Sy was maybe slightly better. His acting reminded me of a 1980’s Eddie Murphy. It was great, finally a movie that I will watch every time I get the chance and I will know that I won’t easily be bored with it. It came out of the blue and it immediately hit me right in the feels. I tip my hat off. (08/03/2013)

An excellent, superbly dramatic, and well-crafted film about real life among paraplegics and similarly disabled individuals. Philippe belongs to that fraction of the population who can afford to live in a castle with plenty of staff, and in such an environment, paralysis is much more bearable than languishing in an institution with burnt-out staff who make it abundantly clear how much your mere physical existence irritates them, and who keep you perpetually in a state of miserable survival. However, such a truthful film would not offer so much heartwarming humor, interesting situations, and appealing characters. The mutual chemistry between caregiver Driss, a black plebeian from the outskirts, and the aristocratic upper-class Philippe is simply perfect and fully functional. The film not only explores the development of a great friendship but also interestingly tackles the clash of different cultures, social classes, and the eternal conflict between the so-called high elite culture and the popular culture of the masses. The Intouchables excellently fulfills both genres it represents. You laugh at these characters and at the same time, you are afraid for them. There is one thing more I need to criticize - the film's epilogue is unnecessarily literal, and here, I would have left a more or less open ending and room for the viewer's imagination. Overall impression: 90%. (13/06/2012)

A comedy built on contrasts of the characters’ respective natures and the setting and which more or less just mulls over the idea of also being a social drama. The film outright plays it safe. The plot is regularly livened up with minor conflicts and the montage sequences prevent it from becoming too slow and boring so as not to repel viewers. The comedic lightening-up of the situation only occasionally gets out of control (the dance scene resembling a music video) and disrupts the pleasant cruising on the surface of harmless images. It’s still unrivalled as a cure for crises of all types. 75% (06/06/2012)

A new film that: 1) doesn't come from the UK or the US; 2) it still made it into Czech cinemas; 3) it doesn't have a single flaw? That hasn't happened in a long time. I mean... At least since The Artist. So cheers to France again! You just don't see something so beautiful on the big screen. "Do you know where you can find a quadriplegic?" - "I don't know." - "Where you left him." (03/11/2012)