One of the most touching French comedies of recent years has landed in the Netflix catalog. Don’t miss “Roulez jeunesse” with Eric Judor.
What is it about ?
Alex, 43, is a car repairman in the garage run by his mother with an iron fist. One day, he helps out a young woman and spends the night at her house, but in the early morning she disappeared leaving him with three children.
An underrated French drama to catch up on
Released in cinemas in 2018, Roulez Jeunesse is a little nugget that you may have missed in dark rooms. Good news, this first feature film by Julien Guetta is now available on Netflix and we advise you to catch up.
To embody Alex, a lost 40-year-old car repairman and still a little in the skirts of his mother, the director called on Eric Judor, a great regular in comedies who ensures as much in the schoolboy as in the absurd and the burlesque.
Celine Nieszawer
And yet, in Roulez Jeunesse, he shows a new facet of his talent and offers us a sensitive and authentic tragicomic performance. After helping out a woman, Prune, with whom he also spends the night, he finds himself having to take care of three children after his one-night stand vanishes.
Among the toddlers are baby Otis, little boy Kurt and teenage big sister Tina. Thinking that Prune is their mother, he will do everything to find her. But Alex quickly realizes that the family situation is much more complex than it seems.
Ivan Mathie
If you think you’re looking at a classic comedy, you’re not. Roulez jeunesse has plenty under the hood and promises as many laughs as great emotions. After a calm start, to lay the foundations of its plot, the machine launches and we drive at high speed with a whole gallery of colorful and particularly endearing characters, embodied by a beautiful cast: Laure Calamy, Brigitte Roüan, Ilan Debrabant , Louise Labèque, Philippe Duquesne and Déborah Lukumuena, among others.
If he was used to repairing cars, Alex will, despite his clumsiness, find himself repairing hearts and repairing lives, turned upside down by tragedies. Far from falling into pathos and silliness, Roulez jeunesse is a very nice surprise that stands out for the relevance of its subject, its hard-hitting dialogues and its galvanizing energy.
The film Roulez jeunesse is available on Netflix.