30 jours max

30 jours max
Original title:30 jours max
Director:Tarek Boudali
Release:Cinema
Running time:90 minutes
Release date:15 october 2020 (France)
Rating:

Mulder's Review

"The basic idea is the question that everyone has asked themselves at one time or another: what would I do if I had 30 days to live? I wanted to make a comedy out of the answer, with the comic detonator being the fact that the condemned character realizes that he is no longer condemned... But in the meantime, he had to do crazy things, with nothing left to lose, and it was impossible for him to stop the spiral. And the job where you take a lot of risks is obviously policing. From then on, the action film naturally followed the comedy " - Tarek Boudali

We may be fans of La Bande à Fifi (Philippe Lacheau, Tarek Boudali, Élodie Fontan, Reem Kherici, Julien Arruti) and have been conquered by their films whether it is Babysitting 1&2 (2014-2015), Alibi. com (2017), Nicky Larson and the Perfume of Cupid (2018), we must recognize it when neither the script nor the direction are signed by Phillipe Lacheau the final result is cruelly lacking in spice and the irresistible side that animates each of these films. However, Tarek Boudali's first film Marry me my friend (2017) turned out to be an endearing comedy despite visible defects of rhythm and a too smooth direction. So, we would have liked to discover with this second film 30Jours max not only an efficient and perfectly directed action comedy, but unfortunately due to a sometimes-incoherent editing, a predictable scenario and running gags that miss their target, the result is disappointing.

So, we discover Rayane (Tarek Boudali), a young, clumsy, cowardly cop secretly in love with his teammate Stéphanie (Vanessa Guide). His father was an excellent policeman killed during a mission by a dangerous criminal. Not only does Rayane shine with his sense of observation, but he never fails to make mistake after mistake. After being bitten by a rat, a doctor tells him that he has contacted a serious illness and that he has only 30 days left to live. This news leads him to totally rethink life and after a few days in Las Vegas, he has only one goal left: to put out of action a dangerous drug trafficker, the Rat (José Garcia) who has false airs to Conor McGregor. Rayane will have to face not only two special agents Pierre (Julien Arruti) and Tony (Philippe Lacheau) but also the Rat's organized gang to show that he has all the makings of a true reckless film.

30 days max had everything to seduce to order by its casting composed of the gang to Fifi but also many second roles in which we find Vanessa Guide, José Garcia, Marie-Anne Chazel, Nicolas Marié, Philippe Duquesne and Chantal Ladesou. The initial idea could have led to a police comedy such as L'inspecteur la bavure (1980) or many American action comedies. However, due to the lack of a montage that fails to create a real continuity in the story, after a stealthy passage in Las Vegas that only seems to allow for a too predictable gag and especially scenes with a too simplistic or even too easy humor, 30 days max really struggles to convince.

However, 30 days max is not devoid of many qualities, starting with the convincing interpretation of Tarek Boudali (in front and behind the camera), Vanessa guide, Nicolas Marié and José Garcia. Unfortunately, the roles played by Philippe Lacheau and Julien Arruti are sorely lacking in thickness and seem to be nothing more than caricatures of law enforcement officers, and their dialogues do little to restore their substance. We won't even talk about the role of the main character's granny, which is overplayed and really not funny at all. It should be pointed out in passing that making him a youtube star tends to ridicule not only older characters but also to show the sidereal emptiness of today's youtubers ready to do anything to boost their number of views. We'll also go over the mariachi scene which reminds us a little too much of the cult film saga of Naked Gun (Is there a cop...). Certainly 300 (2007) by Zack Snyder to mark our memories but from there to parody a strong scene risks to go unnoticed by non-cinephiles and to propose a surprising slow motion.

Certainly, the action scenes and the numerous stunts of the film are successful and could have made this film one of the French film’s events of the end of the year, but the proposed editing and many scenes that could have been deleted to lighten the narrative and strengthen our immersion in this film, make 30 days max disappointing. By dint of wanting to propose an artificial film lacking the vision of a director capable of bringing a new perspective on traditional French comedy, 30 jours max disappoints. One can imagine what this film could have been if the script had been written by Philippe Lacheau and had benefited from a better editing. We'll let you judge for yourself the final result when the film is released on October 14th.

30 Days max
A film by Tarek Boudali
Produced by Christophe Cervoni and Marc Fiszman
Written byTarek Boudali and Pierre Dudan
StarringTarek Boudali, Philippe Lacheau, Julien Arruti, Vanessa Guide, José Garcia, Marie-Anne Chazel, Reem Kherici, Nicolas Marié, Philippe Duquesne, Chantal Ladesou, Brahim Bouhlel, Just Riadh
Music by Maxime Desprez and Michaël Tordjman
Cinematography: Vincent Richard
Production companies: Axel Productions, M6 Films and Studiocanal
Distributed by Studiocanal (France)
Release dates: October 14, 2020 (France)
Running time: 90 minutes

Seen on October 2, 2020 at Gaumont Disney Village, Room 2 seat A19

Mulder's Mark: