Divorce club

To the one who'll give me a chance...

Winner of the Grand Prix at the Alpe d'Huez International Comedy Film Festival, the third film co-written and directed by Michaël Youn shows the new maturity of a true author who never stops reinventing himself. While in his first two films, Fatal (2010) and Vive la France (2013), he also played the lead role, this time he prefers to focus on directing and writing and gives himself a second, albeit important, role. However, there is a real desire to deliver a more accomplished film than Vive la France and in the same vein as the excellent Fatal. While Divorce Club could only have been a simple film commissioned by M6 films (it's no coincidence to meet actors from the M6 series), Michaël Youn certainly delivers an unbridled comedy.

He doesn't hesitate to show real irony and castigate our current society in which social success is too often attached to an important place in a reputable society but also to a more personal chase in which being married is tantamount to getting an equally important reward. By drawing on his personal experience and by proposing a jubilant comedy worthy of the greatest English or American directors, Michaël Youn does not only reinvent himself as director and screenwriter, he simply delivers his best film to date and pays tribute in a certain way as much to certain recent French comedies but also by its perfect rhythm to all that made the charm of Blake Edwards' comedies and we also think in particular of the cult film a fish named Wanda (1989).

In a comedy everything is based on a perfect rhythm, effective dialogues but also on characters perfectly described and far from being simple inanimate puppets. From the first scene worthy of the soaps opera in which we see the marriage of Ben (Arnaud Ducret) to and Vanessa (Ornella Fleury). Five years later, Ben discovers during a presentation at his wife's work that she is cheating on him with her boss and that she is asking for a divorce. At the end of his rope by this rupture, Ben during a therapy session animated by Doctor Fred Eric (Jarry) finds his best friend Patrick (François-Xavier Demaison) and at the request of this last one to change his ideas leaves to live at his place... When the beautiful Marion comes into his life, things will get complicated and Ben will let go.

Far from being a succession of comic situations, the script finds the perfect rhythm to tackle themes such as true friendship, regaining self-confidence but also the importance of finding the one you want to create something serious with. By surrounding himself with an excellent cast, with special mention to Arnaud Ducret, Caroline Anglade, François-Xavier Demaison and Adurey Fleurot, Michael Youn shows once again that he's not just a simple clown but also an excellent director who manages to go beyond the simple framework of a comedy sanitized as much as possible, to deliver this summer's feel-good movie. We will also appreciate the numerous scenes with a very aggressive lemur that never stops tormenting Ben.

Of course, several scenes in the film seem to be similar to those in Philippe Lacheau's films, and we'll be thinking in particular of Babysitting (2013). Nor is the presence of actress Charlotte Gabris a fortuitous coincidence. However, Michael Youn gives his film its own tone and turns out to be not only a perfect director of actors but also doesn't forget his former partners, as proven by the presence in a very successful scene of Cartman and Vincent Moscato.

If you are looking for a good comedy to take your mind off these difficult times, Divorce club is one of the must-see films of this summer. We hadn't laughed so much in front of a movie in a long time (exceptions make it just as excellent Farewell to the jerks of Albert Dupontel).

Divorce club
Directed by Michaël Youn
Produced by Ségolène Dupont, Éric Geay, Emilie Chatel
Written by Matt Alexander, Michaël Youn, Claude Zidi Jr, Cyrille Droux, Marie-Pierre Huster
Starring Arnaud Ducret, François-Xavier Demaison, Michaël Youn, Audrey Fleurot, Caroline Anglade, Youssef Hajdi, Grégoire Bonnet, Jarry, Frédérique Bel , Ornella Fleury, Benjamin Biolay, Claudia Tagbo, Mcfly, Carlito, Patrick Braoudé, Gladys Cohen, Vincent Desagnat, Vincent Moscato et Cartman
Cinematography : Stéphane Le Parc
Edited by Sandro Lavezzi
Music : Freaks
Executive producer : David Giordano
Production : Radar Films, SNC, M6 Films
Distribution : SND (France)
Running times : 108 minutes
Release date : July 14 2020 (France)

Seen on July 13, 2020 at Gaumont Disney Village (Disnetyland Paris), Room 2 seat A22

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