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Banzai

1983, Movie, NR, 100 mins

Banzai: Review

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Claude Berri, who directed some of the more interesting French comedies of the 1960s and 1970s (PAPA'S CINEMA; LE SEX SHOP; MAZEL TOV OU LE MARRIAGE; etc.) produced this hodgepodge and allowed Claude Zidi to direct it. Perhaps they should have traded hats. This one doesn't work. It's an ornate piece of fluff about a nerd (Coluche) who works for the Parisian version of Travelers Aid and gets into all sorts of scrapes attempting to help tourists in distress. The picture jets from Tunisia to New York to Hong Kong and never settles in to let us like it. In Africa, Coluche misguidedly frees an antigovernment official, which leads to a rebellion. In New York, he is taken to be a drug smuggler (the man couldn't smuggle Alka-Seltzer, much less cocaine); in Hong Kong, he winds up embroiled with the underworld. Where are the frothy French comedies of yesteryear? These people have been watching too many Jerry Lewis pictures and have forgotten the lovely tradition their predecessors established. It looks as though a lot of money was spent to little avail. They should have realized that special effects and whiz-bang gags are no substitute for character comedy and honest reactions. Fernandel...where are you now that we need you? leave a comment
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