The result is something of a “tweener”: neither funny enough as an outright comedy nor solid enough as a drama, and certainly not believable as an affaire de coeur. Even the rhythm seems off in these latter sections, the scenes running on for too long and the filmmakers relying on a busy hit soundtrack, backed by Ludovico Einaudi’s busy and gushy score, to channel emotions on screen. Yet the precision of the movie’s early reels soon gives way to lots of fluff, whether it’s the various she-loves-me/he-loves-me-not tribulations of the romance, the friendship Samba develops with a fellow alien ( Tahar Rahim) that provides only a few broad laughs, or the subplot involving another African refugee that feels like a pure screenwriting device. These early sequences, which reveal the Kafkaesque bureaucratic hoops that people like Samba need to leap through, are also filled with intelligent stabs of humor, including a scene involving multiple translations that shows how well the directing duo can stage and time a good gag. ![]() Soon enough, he’s arrested and about to be deported when Alice, who’s volunteering free immigration services after suffering a nervous breakdown, swoops in with a co-counselor ( Izia Higelin) to try and help. Such a dichotomy is evident from the film’s Goodfellas-style opening shot, which begins with a showstopping wedding celebration before tracking back to the kitchen, where Samba sweats his butt off washing dishes. ![]() Up until then, Nakache and Toledano (who adapted their script from Delphine Coulin’s novel) deliver an impressively lucid, and often hilarious, indictment of France’s two-tiered social system, where illegals work low-wage jobs as they remain on the run from the authorities, while those with papers lead a more privileged existence. Such flaws are only truly felt after the halfway point, when the love story begins to take center stage over all the comic-charged realism. But despite a twisting narrative that will eventually bring the two together, their pairing doesn’t click the way it should, while Alice never feels like a full-fledged character. Such a bond is more or less absent from Samba, which substitutes the Cluzet character for a depressive Parisian, Alice (Gainsbourg), who falls in love with Samba (Sy) when they first meet at a detainment center in Charles de Gaulle airport. Part of what made Intouchables such a hit was the prickly relationship at its core, with Francois Cluzet starring opposite Sy as a paraplegic in need of a helping hand, not to mention a few good laughs. 'Sing Sing' Review: Colman Domingo Shines in a Subtle Portrait of a Prison Arts Program Already pre-sold to most territories and set for release in France mid-October, this polished outing should see strong global returns for Gaumont, though they won’t climb to the heights reached last time. And although there are amusing set pieces that cleverly underline the strife of Paris’ immigrant community, the chemistry between Sy and co-star Charlotte Gainsbourg, who plays Samba’s neurotic love interest, is never quite there, while the film’s message is lost amid too many plot contrivances. Once again teaming up with Omar Sy, who winningly portrays an illegal alien trying to stay in France at all costs, this social dramedy-cum-romantic comedy starts off promisingly before losing its rhythm midway through. The star and crew may be the same, and the subject matter equally worthy, but lightning does not exactly strike twice in Samba, Olivier Nakache’s and Eric Toledano’s follow-up to their 2011 smash hit Intouchables, which grossed a whopping $425 million worldwide and remains one of the most successful French films in history.
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