By James Murphy
While some may venture to the Palace Nova this April to escape the all-pervasive influence of the Hollywood blockbuster, Jack Mimoun & les secrets de Val Verde, written and starring Moroccan stand-up comedian and radio star Malik Bentalha, is proof that no matter where on earth you go, be it France, Morocco, or even a hidden pirate cave on a tropical island, the same cinematic tropes can be found.
Jack Mimoun & les secrets de Val Verde’s plot is a pastiche of action and comedy classics: like in The Three Amigos. Joséphine Japy’s Aurélie Diaz (a fledgling Tombraider) enlists a star of the screen, Bentalha’s Bear Grylls/Steve Irwin caricature, Jack Mimoun, for assistance with a real world problem: they need to obtain a MacGuffin, a gem encrusted sword that Diaz’s father sought, rumoured to be hidden away in a Pirates of the Caribbean/Goonies lair on island of Val Verde; a hostile place that Jack Mimoun had apparently survived and escaped. Bentalha and Diaz are joined on the quest by comic relief buddies Jérôme Commandeur, as Minoun’s manager and François Damiens as an unhinged mercenary; Benoît Magimel, a French Daniel Craig, a genuine adventurer and former apprentice to Diaz’s father, is the counterpoint to Minoun’s faux Indiana Jones.
While Jack Mimoun has the budget and cinematography to look the part, with prowling tigers, falling planes and expansive hidden lairs, and though Japy and Magimel are compelling in their respective roles, Bentalha’s writing and performance simply lacks the comedic spark necessary to elevate this paint by numbers farce. Sure, there are some laughs, and some leeway is given when the gags fall flat; maybe that is funny to the French but it is lost in translation; more likely than not, though, it’s just not funny in any language. Bentalha lacks the charisma to carry the project while Commandeur and Damiens do well with what they are given, yet you wish they were given more; they share some low brow slap stick moments that do work.
Hidden treasures may abound at this year’s French Film Festival but Jack Mimoun is not a rare gem; the film industry is encrusted with similar offerings.
Three stars
No Comments