C'est la vie!

My third encounter with the works of the Toledano and Nakache duo turned out better than expected, even though (or perhaps precisely because of it) it is a completely different concept and style of humor than the one they succeeded with worldwide in the case of The Intouchables. As has been said by others, this film is not a slapstick comedy, but a pleasant, easily flowing film underscored by relaxing music, which has the ambition to evoke a slight smile in several places, rather than a burst of laughter. Although the setting of a wedding feast may suggest that the film is one of the countless variations of romantic comedies, the opposite is true. C'est la vie! is a comedic story set in a working collective environment, which is a subgenre that was once popular in the countries of the Eastern Bloc. In this film, people work hard- admittedly, not always effectively- in an exemplary collaboration and with expected results. The ensemble of relatively unknown actors to me does a reliable job and all I can say is that I enjoyed myself exactly as the directing duo intended. Personally, I am not fond of filmmaking based on distorted characters, but here the absence of the main character replaced by a multitude of supporting characters with one or two important appearances came across as highly functional. Overall impression: 90%. (17/05/2021)

I was expecting a bit more entertainment, but at its core, it is a very nice film that flows nicely, thanks to the excellent music. Of the actors, I was very impressed by Gilles Lellouche, whose facial expressions reminded me of Louis de Funès, only in a slightly more charming form. Of the actresses, I especially enjoyed Eye Haidara, whom I would liken to the female equivalent of Omar Sy. And it was precisely the interaction between the stand-in singer and the deputy head of the wedding agency that I enjoyed watching the most from all those intertwined characters. (70%) (21/08/2020)

C'est la vie! is a feel-good chill-out movie with one main and twenty supporting characters that seem to be played by extras who may be talented, but are not very interesting. I would have liked to see more remarkable actors, of the French comic type, who would have improved the mood merely with their appearance and facial expressions. Even the lead actor would have been a better fit for a decent supporting role. (13/11/2017)

A variation of Truffaut's Day for Night, only movie backstage is replaced by the unique wedding backstage of one of the parties which is attended by Murphy´s Laws. It´s very nice (at least for the male part of the audience) purely from the point of view of the wedding agency, and not of the wedding guests, so despite the main them it´s not a romance. Not even remotely. As much as it is a comedy, sometimes even very funny one, it would be a mistake to expect something that makes you laugh all the time. Here you will have a constant smile on your face rather than laughing like a crazy person. (01/09/2018)

I’m not particularly fond of French cinema. With a few exceptions, I've mostly been treated to depressing dramas or comedies full of frantic humor relying on the tradition of silent slapstick comedy. What I was expecting from this film was affected humor and tear-jerking romance, but I was only momentarily misled by the title. Firstly, I was glad to find that the main character was well past his twenties. Secondly, there was a long series of disasters in which Max managed to keep a cool head most of the time, so it wasn’t like those crazy comedies in the style of Louis de Funes and I enjoyed the film. I found out what jobs I would definitely never want to do, and I must appreciate the excellent character of the photographer, he was perfect. (08/07/2018)