The New Toy

Is the French cinema so lacking in ideas that it can propose a remake of one of the most important films of the 70's written and directed by Francis Veber with Pierre Richard and Michel Bouquet?  The American remake The Toy (1982) directed by Richard donner with Richard Pryor had already tried to revisit this film without success. Certainly the script co-written by its director Sonja Shillito brings some important changes and updates this story to our time but it should have pushed the satire to its limits and not sink into a mainstream comedy based solely on the clash of social circles and two actors appreciated by the public Jamel Debbouze and Daniel Auteuil and the young actor Simon Faliu.

The story takes place in the Paris region today. We discover Sammy (Jamel Debbouze) trying to sell two-spouted teapots on a market stall before seeing his stock confiscated and being arrested by the police. This man, who seems to be so lazy that he is drowning in debt and whose wife Alice (Alice Belaïdi) is pregnant, is given a job as a night security guard in a department store and falls asleep one night in the toy department between two statues of Spiderman and Venom. When the powerful billionaire businessman Philippe Etienne (heir to the Etienne dynasty) sends his advisors to accompany the store manager so that his son Alexandre can find his birthday present, Sammy's and Alexandre's paths cross. Alexandre demands Sammy as a birthday present and to wrap it up to take it home. Since his mother died of a serious illness, Alexander gets everything he wants from his father and has developed a very nasty temper as a spoiled and authoritarian only child. Sammy will find himself in a very rich environment where everything is possible, like going surfing on the weekend in Biarritz in a private jet and having in the castle where Alexandre and his father live a multitude of people under their orders. A real attachment is born between Alexandre and Sammy and after many adventures will change forever the vision of this future heir of a great dynasty.

While Francis Veber's film was very successful and innovative in the context of the 70s and would seal a long friendship between this director and his favorite actor Pierre Richard, this new film is sorely lacking in ideas to the point of being a pale copy of the already unsuccessful Richie Rich (1995). The director James Huth, apart from Brice de Nice (2005), had hardly impressed us until now with films that often failed like Lucky Luke (2009), Brice 3 (206) despite the presence of the excellent actor Jean Dujardin. In the case of his new film he never manages to make us forget the original film. However, The New Toy is not a failure in itself because it benefits from the presence of comedian Jamel Debbouze who seems to take a real pleasure in following in the footsteps of Pierre Richard and gives the film a few successful scenes.

Another important question that this film raises is whether it would not have been wiser to release this film directly on a streaming platform such as Netflix and not in theaters (the almost empty theater at this premiere confirms this). While excellent comedies have their place in the cinema and should be discovered on the big screen, this film is sorely lacking in impressive scenes and is content to be a simple entertainment that is as soon seen as forgotten. Yet in the hands of better writers and with a director able to really find the right approach, the film could have been an excellent comedy. 

The New toy
Directed by James Huth
Produced by Richard Grandpierre 
Written by James Huth, Sonja Shillito, 
based on Francis Veber's Le Jouet.
Starring Jamel Debbouze, Daniel Auteuil, Alice Belaïdi, Simon Faliu, Salim Kissari, Mostach Chari 
Cinematography : Stéphane Le Parc
Edited by Dorian Rigal-Ansous
Production companies : Eskwad
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing France (France), Wild Bunch (international)
Release date : October 19, 2022 (France)
Running time : 113 minutes

Seen on October 01, 2022 at Gaumont Disney Village, Room 8 seat A19

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