A dash of Bruel and a hint of Luchini

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier

In The best is yet to come, currently in theaters, Fabrice Luchini and Patrick Bruel portray two characters who bear a slight resemblance to themselves. Through their natural yet precise performances, they celebrate friendship against a backdrop of illness and lies. Not to be missed.

Following a misunderstanding caused by the mix-up of a health insurance card, Arthur Dreyfus, a university biologist, learns—or rather, believes he has learned—that he has cancer and only has a few months to live. That is, until he realizes the diagnosis actually applies to his childhood friend, César Montesiho, who is completely unaware of the situation. What follows is a long-running lie that will last almost as long as his friend’s life expectancy. Convinced that Arthur is about to die, César decides to move in with him and plan all sorts of fun activities. The two friends then set out to enjoy life as they never have before, until the truth—inevitably—finally comes to light.

A friendship, a meeting

It’s simple: this film about friendship—that beautiful, timeless subject—works simply because of its protagonists, since they are the real actors. Ultimately, there are two types of figures in cinema: actors who try to resemble their characters, and characters who try to resemble their actors. Fabrice Luchini and Patrick Bruel—or rather, Arthur Dreyfus and César Montesiho—belong to the latter category. In addition to a tailor-made screenplay, this cinematic situation requires one other key condition: that the actors perform with both naturalness and talent. For that, there’s only one solution: to have natural talent. That’s certainly the case with our two friends.

One portrays a guy who’s a little dim, a little old-fashioned, a little average, a little «a little»—which is somewhat reminiscent of someone, namely himself. The other plays a guy who’s a total redneck, a total teenager, a total charmer, and a total big spender—which is exactly who he is. Facing accusations from five women of inappropriate behavior—including exhibitionism, in particular—Patrick Bruel is thus portraying on screen a facet of his personality that he embraces. And which he invokes, moreover, in his statements to draw the essential distinction between heavy-handed charm and harassment.

«The best is yet to come or not», dares however Le Figaro, lamenting a somewhat juvenile comedy. Well, «the best is yet to come—or not,» yes, indeed, because you have to take the phrase literally: it’s not certain we’ll find anything better in the future, since this film is simply very good and the Bruel-Luchini duo is unbeatable—just as, in a completely different vein, the Hallyday-Luchini duo was. That, too, is what cinema is all about: taking an artistic encounter as far as possible, turning it into a unique experience.

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Photo credit: © Pathé Films