"La ch'tite famille" is a new French 2018 movie that runs for 105 minutes. Maybe you guessed from the title already that with this one here writer and director Dany Boon is making a reference back to his very successful (especially commercially) movie about a very unique family. But this reference may also be this film's biggest curse. Many people will criticize it for the lack of real connections (Merad cameo just isn't enough), that they waited too long, that it's just a cheap copy or a cheap attempt to cash in once again. Well I don't think I have seen the 2008 film, so I cannot go any more into detail, but honestly when watching this one here, it's perhaps just the best approach you can give it. As a standalone film, I thought this was a charming little piece most of the time from start to finish. The actors are doing a fine job and the comedy is good, even hilarious at times thanks to the script and physical acting, but also of course the dialogues. As a great deal of the film is about language and pronunciation, I think it is almost impossible to give this one an accurate dubbing without having lots of the charme lost in translation. The subtitles version is what you wanna go for if you aren't fluent in French. The weaknesses are perhaps when the film tries to be too dramatic for its own good like for example the mother-son relationship early on. This was not good and it seems they understood it as this plot part was done without pretty quickly afterward as the film turned into an amnesia story. And as such, it delivered for sure. It was a success every time it did not take itself very seriously. The most known cast member is maybe Pierre Richard once again and while I struggled a bit with his inclusion outside the real story for the most part, it worked again better near the end and honestly he also saved the ending a bit when he lets it all out with his character as the reference back to the mother's birthday felt a bit too random for my taste then. The one part I liked the most really was how eventually Arné's character proved to really love her man by adapting to his lifestyle and not anymore forcing her lifestyle upon him. She gave a really charming performance there. I found it sweet. I found her sweet too of course. This is another great strength here. It is pretty much left open for a long time who eventually the real antagonists are and the really good, even if with some you know immediately of course, but if you watch it, you'll know what I mean. Eventually, I would say if this had been released without any Ch'ti reference or back in the 2000s before the fis´rst Ch'ti film, then people most likely would have given it a far more favorable reception than they did now. I personally enjoyed it though, so I certainly give it a thumbs-up as the positive here is far more frequent than the negative. Actually, there are some really good moments in here in terms of humor and heart. Close to a must-see if you love French films. Go check it out.
Review of Family is Family
