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Very Funny and Sexy Too

Amos Lassen | Little Rock, Arkansas | 10/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Young, Beautiful and Screwed Up"

Very Funny and Sexy Too

Amos Lassen

Laguna Productions has a great "little" hit with Igor Sk's "Young, Beautiful and Screwed Up' as it follows the adventures of a young man in the south of France who follows an upper-class girl from Paris to the City of Lights. Just the beginning of the movie makes it worthwhile.
Maurice manages to solve the problems of a donkey which is "depressed" by "introducing" it to a young mare so that they give birth to a mule. Almost immediately following this, a friend of Maurice, a hairdresser, borrows the wheelchair of a crippled French legion veteran and forgets to return it. The soldier lies on the sidewalk waiting for a trolley to go shopping but without the wheelchair is really unable to navigate. After being helped by a woman, the legionnaire manages to borrow a skateboard and moves through traffic to retrieve his chair. And this is just the beginning. Sk gives us black humor and a satire on the traditional society of the French.
Maurice lives with his singe mother and works on a form. He has a special gift, the ability to communicate with animals. Maurice is simple and honest and because of this he, at times, becomes the object of ridicule of his village. He finally breaks loose when he and a friend chase a Parisian and his girlfriend to Paris to make them pay for some damage they did when they stopped in the village while on vacation. In Paris, they shake the status quo of the bourgeois world with their naiveté and stubbornness. When they team up street kids from Africa in order to avenge a racist, all hell breaks lose and the humor flies.
Dealing with the differences in lifestyles, value systems and conflicts between generations, this movie is an absolute delight. It is fast paced and, at times, wicked as it caricatures the French and the actors are really good. The hairdresser reminds us of Jim Carrey and gives quite a performance. Nice, France is a beautiful backdrop for the film and it truly entertains. The twists and turns capture the audience and the sub-plot of love is powerful. Produced with style and élan, this is just a fun movie that deserves to be seen and enjoyed by all. Friendship and love and nature make this a very, very clever film.
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