Romain Martin, a psychiatrist, and his patient Léo Milan, convinced he's a secret agent, must join forces to find Louise, Romain's fiancée, kidnapped by a gang of dangerous anarchist bank robbers. Ludovic Colbeau-Justin's new feature is a simple comedy that makes you laugh. Nothing exceptional, however. Except for the ending, which raises questions about how we all face our demons and become heroes.
«The exit is a question of state of mind».»
To open the film, a superb Peugeot with Dubai plates rolls down a road in the middle of the desert. It's almost like being in the American West. After an opening worthy of the finest James Bond films, our secret agent (Dany Boon) enjoys a candlelit dinner with his sweetheart, Ana. But the scene quickly turns Fight Club in the restaurant. After a few epic fight scenes, the secret agent - we'd expect nothing less - with his back to the wall, explains to his companion that there's always a way out, with the profound phrase: «The way out is a question of state of mind». We'll talk more about this phrase below.
This pastiche of spy films
So, after this philosophical tribulation, the two lovers take the plunge from the top of a Dubai tower and.... fast-forward. The camera now takes us into a cell in a psychiatric institution. There, a sympathetic but slightly dim-witted doctor named Romain Martin (Philippe Katerine) asks questions of our secret agent, alias Léo Milan, code-named «Le Lion». The latter has definitely let his beard and hair grow, and claims to be a spy working for the organization. Zodiac of the «Constellation» network. He'd like to escape to find Ana, his love. Out of the question, says his psychiatrist, who is determined to find out more about this mysterious patient about whom even the smallest piece of information is controlled and withheld.
Dr. Martin feels a certain empathy for this oddball patient who has drawn a zodiac on his bedroom wall, and shows him a certain humanity. But he doesn't go so far as to take him seriously. Not even when Louise tells him that his sweetheart, Louise, is being followed by a florist's van, a favorite cover for spies to kidnap people. Nothing very credible, until one evening, when Romain is knocked unconscious by a man wearing a monkey mask and Louise is kidnapped by the same individual. Under the tutelage of the Lion, the psychiatrist embarks on a wild chase to discover his wife's true identity, as well as his own limits.
The Lion is an often funny film, as it pastiche most of the codes of the spy movie into a comedy. There are all the clichés of the no-nonsense secret agent, the flabby, clumsy sidekick, the hot young woman, fighting techniques with goofy names like «Le coup du Lion», and other stereotypes of the genre. What's special about all this? It's all set in a Franco-French context! No DeLoreans or Porsches, just Peugeots and Renaults. No ninjutsu, but martial arts, taught by Le Lion. And, last but not least, Not Chicago, New York or other Anglo-Saxon metropolises, but Paris.
The tragedy of heroes
Throughout the film, the camera opts for third-person shots to distance us from the protagonists. In the course of the film, the director scatters a number of small details that, at first glance, seem incoherent, but in the end, everything fits together.
Le Lion will declare that «Renault is the enemy», that he only dresses in Prada and that he never investigates on an empty stomach. On the other hand, poor Romain will learn the hard way the number 1 rule of espionage (from Le Lion): «Never trust appearances», when he learns that his dear Louise is actually called Jessica and that she is a hacker, whose ex, leader of a group of anarcho-braqueurs, has decided to kidnap and rob the Bank of France. We laugh, but sometimes we get the impression that the film is trying too hard. Too much to be true.
The main question of the film is: who is Le Lion? Is he really a secret agent? And this is the film's great turning point. Admittedly, the last third of the film is a surprise - and a tragedy - in stark contrast to the light-hearted tone of the rest. While the gallivanting, whining and other simpering make us smile, the big revelation about the Lion's past leaves us speechless. A beautiful life, turned tragic, which raises the question: what if, faced with our own powerlessness, we sometimes have no choice but to create heroes for ourselves?
The Lion is easy on the eye. We laugh a little, enjoy the clichés and don't think too much. Except at the end, when you feel sorry for «Monsieur Milan». Watch it if you want to relax, alone or with a partner, but avoid it if you're looking for thought-provoking cinema.
Write to the author: ivan.garcia@leregardlibre.com
Photo credit: © Pathé Films
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