DRIVE YOUTH, or how to be a good samaritan – Critical –

For his first feature film, DRIVE YOUTH, Julien Guetta offers Eric Judor a beautiful role more dramatic than those that it interprets usual.

You can have several bias before going to see DRIVE YOUTH, but the good news is that they are going to fortunately to deconstruct throughout the film and in a rather surprising way. As if the film director Julien Guetta had to lead the viewer astray. If one considers, for example, the title of the film, we may have the odd impression that the director and his co-screenwriter Dominique Baumard have planted the, as the starting point for the film and that the scenario has been managed by the suite. Where the garage, the tow truck and the children.

As for the hero, played by Eric Judor, we can expect to see him interpret his type of usual roles of a womanizer, braggart, a liar, a scaredy-cat and a loser, as in the series H and Sycamore, Mohamed Dubois, or more recently Problemos. His character Alex still retains some of these traits, but Eric Judor is less azimuté than usual, more sober… almost too much. One feels that he had to make big efforts not to fall back into the ease of what the public knows of him and loves him. The genre finally: it is expected that, because of the presence of Judor, to be a comedy. But DRIVE YOUTH looks back instead to the kind of the dramédie, and this is not so surprising that when we know that Julien Guetta is also the co-screenwriter of Players. It was the same case in several dramas reality : that of the children placed conveniently on the way from Alex and Alex, more intimate and ultimately more interesting.

We know that the improbable encounters often produce the same effects : each participant comes out profoundly transformed and finally managed to deal with his problems. As well, Alex is a man surrounded by women that could easily be set as castratrices. First of all, the original, her mother (Brigitte Roüan), with which it still has not managed to cut the cord, especially as she is the boss and the employee of their box troubleshooting. It is known that such men are moving away from the grip of the mother in different ways, the good and the bad.

But Alex is neither Romain Gary, or Norman Bates. It’s just a good paste of 43 years, whom some would be tempted to consider as a poor guy. It simply has not yet found its place, nor any real meaning to his life, but do not complain. It exerts, moreover, an occupation which corresponds quite well to his character : the good samaritan, he helps people. Not only with his tow truck, but with his listening, his humor, his selflessness, and his natural friendliness. We regret, moreover, that both writers have not developed more scenes with characters and Alex is back in his tow truck.

RIDE YOUTH is a first film touching and succeeded by his side a set of Russian dolls that goes beyond appearances, much deeper than it seems.

And then his girlfriend Lou (Deborah Lukumuena, discovery in the Divine), that bump in the garage and Nelly (Laure Calamy), social worker in his state, but planted by Alex after a night spent with him. And even Plum (Marie Kremer), who decides to sleep with him before leaving him, abandoning his children. The film is also a look not judging them on what motivates the parents failed, and recalls in this sense, moving My life as a Zucchini.

The concern is that the women that surround Alex consider it completely irresponsible and unworthy of their trust. They find that it doesn’t behave at all like a man, but always as a kid. They are often angry against him, the engueulent or laugh at him. And like another false pretense, DRIVE YOUTH is also a film that deals in a biased way, the basis of the masculinity or manhood of our days. It is taken up with the feminist debate today, on a background of #Metoo case and the Weinstein interview on what should be a man in our society and how it should behave. But what the movie shows, and this is quite pleasing because it is not demanding, it is that a man becomes a man when his surroundings change, his gaze on him and leaves him with the opportunity to take things in hand. A bit like the character immature of the recent Daddy Cool, faces of young children, and with a similar scene also kind of funny to poop in the diaper.Yet, when Alex finally has the opportunity to show that he has become responsible thanks to the circumstances, it still behaves like a kid. Even if it takes time to evolve, perhaps this is where Julien Guetta had the opportunity to make an impact and change the character of Alex in making it a bit less buddy and more mature, not only by his words but also in his actions. Then of course, the children love him and cleave to him. It is necessary to show empathy and communicative.

The scene the most poignant of DRIVE YOUTH plucks the viewer by surprise. It is experienced by Alex. He does not speak, it is his look and his tears expressed. And, we say that Julien Guetta may not be offered at Eric Judor his Chao Puppet , but we compute that it is to soon. Because it allows the actor to show at what point the tears are ones of laughter and open a new door on his heart, with other possible roles. Despite a few scenes pretty boat, DRIVE YOUTH is therefore a first film touching and succeeded by his side a set of Russian dolls that goes beyond appearances, much deeper than it seems.

Sylvie-Noelle

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