ElMaruecan82 The third opus of the forever-flawed "French Fried Vacation" trilogy has a subtitle: it is "Friends Forever" well I suppose that doesn't include the audience. Am I funny? No, I just put myself on the film's level. It is not just bad but embarrassingly bad. It's the kind of movies that don't just make you notice how bad they are, but make you angry, because it ruined a legacy.Now, whenever you'd have to say how great the first one in the African resort and the second in the mountains were great, you'd have to add that the third one was terrible. The same thing happened a few years ago with that dreadful "Visitors" sequel, the kind of experience where you leave the film thinking "Is there such a shortage of good writers that this is the best they could come up with?" And speaking of "Visitors", it is interesting because five years had passed till they made the sequel but given how spectacularly awful it was, you would have thought it was two decades. "French Fried Vacation 3" was made 27 years after: on that level, it felt like an eternity, because you'd better believe only the cruel passing of time can make you go from fun, wit and modern relevance to plain mediocrity. It is sad, sad to see characters that defined the new face of French comedy being such hacks. They used to play relatively unlikable persons, but they did it with fun, warmth and a special ingredient that always earned our empathy, in the third, they're unlikable people played in an unlikable way. The same characters are here, they have money, problems but the heart isn't in it. The handsome womanizer and goofy loser Popeye (Thierry Lhermitte) lost its touch with the ladies but being the tallest can pass as "good looks". The greatest blasphemy was when the ultimate loser Jean-Claude Dus (Michel Blanc) turns to a cheerful successful businessman specialized in wigs and the boyfriend of Gigi (Marie-Anne Chazel) who's just had breast implants. She's given so little plot substance that I reconsidered the breast thing as the perfect distraction from her dullness. Bernard and Nathalie, the couple of average Joes played by Gérard Jugnot and Josiane Balaso are the same: as dysfunctional as ever, but these times, they don't have youth as an excuse, they immediately get on our nerves. The same with divorced Jerome (Christian Clavier) wandering all through the film, Clavier is the most successful French comedian but he's not very comfortable as "one of six" anymore.The rest of the cast are here: Martin Lamotte, Dominique Lavanant and Bruno Moynot, but you can take any ten minutes from the first two movies and they'll provide more genuine laughs than the whole of "Friends Forever". The film is a pointless series of "things happening for the sake of a gag". Worse, there's a degree of self-consciousness that makes it even more irritating. It's like they knew this was going to be a hit and the actors tried to make an artificial cult classic out of that certitude, by injecting some one-liners that feel totally artificial. Sometimes, you can almost hear a beat after a line, as if it's telling you that it's a joke, and it is supposed to make you laugh. Some lines are delivered with the sole intent of entering the half of fame of classic French quotes in the same vein that "I will conclude". But it lamentably fails. The only thing the film got right is that it was going to be a commercial success, but what a splendid irony that one of the box-office champs of the last decade, garnering thrice more viewers than the first two put together was instantly disliked by everyone. It is a commercial success and a critical fail, people of all generations love "French Fried Vacation", whether they watched it in the theaters or grew up with and could recite them line by line, so they heightened their expectations when they saw that all the actors (even the director Patrice Leconte) were back on the road. If anything, the film worked because of the first two, but it didn't have the decency to return the compliment by respecting their "spirit". But could it really?I said in previous reviews that the real trilogy ended with "Santa Claus is a Bastard", and one can even see a tetralogy with "Papy Fait de la Résistance". The Splendid Troop refreshed the air of French cinema in the 70's by making vulgar crass comedies with endearing and likable schmucks or losers, people the population could relate to. The torch was passed between the stage theater heritage of Bourvil and Fernandel and the aging Louis de Funès to the younger generation. Old school movies were getting lamer, a bit childish although not deprived of charm but the baby boomers gave French comedy a flavor that defined the 80's and 90's. And maybe what "Friends Forever" says is that they're now in the same position than those they dethroned, they lost their touch.Each time defined a new 'vis comica'. And obviously, our favorite vacationers lost the touch with their era and didn't make enough an impact in that film. There were a few good scenes here and there but they never left an enduring impression, Bernard's son announces his homosexuality and then disappears, his father's reaction is hilarious until it turns into a ridiculous visual stroke. When a film must resort to slapstick and cheap gags involving dead dogs, big breasts, and botox lips exploding in a plane, you know this is not good. But it is quite fitting that the film deals with plastic surgery, it feels like they really implanted what they thought would be good gags and funny jokes, but it really feels like botched surgery. It is a film of artificial and plastic ugliness

Nicholas Rhodes Although this film actually came out in 2006, I have just now got round to seeing it. I remember at the time when it came out, many people were complaining that it was not as good as the original two films. In fact, the film is a reasonally praiseworthy successor to the other two and notably to the first one which, if I am not mistaken, takes place in Senegal. In fact, I found the second film, which takes place in the snow, decidedly more boring than the first. This third effort, manifestly made on the island of Sardinia, is more in keeping with the first original. The difference is that at the time of the original film, the morals of the film were a shock to the public. Today, the morals of the film remain the same, but public moral standards have declined so much (in my opinion) so that the film's morals do not shock any more and the film is therefore a disappointment to those who were expecting something even more "outré". I hasten to add that I in no way identify with the morals of this film - notably on the subject of infidelity which I find horrifying but I try to regard the whole film as something not to be taken seriously. The humor of the film is an extension of "Le Père Noël est Une Ordure" with the same gestuals and expressions, and it is easy to enjoy the performances of actors one has known for many years. The humour is (a) typically French and (b) within that domain, at the bottom end of the scale of finesse and subtlety, i.e. it is light years away from the likes of Fernandel, Bourvil, de Funès, Richard/Depardieu et alia. But there are some original touches and real comedic talent - I do like Martin Lamotte/Dominique Lavanant, and Thierry Lhermitte, and have a lot of admiration of Jugnot, though his rôle here is really not one of his best. However I am clavier-allergic, and I imagine many other people are too - they guy is just unbearable whatever the part he takes - and Marie-Anne Chazel is reasonably funny but not a ball ! On the other hand I do have soft spot for Michel Blanc with his pseudo-American expressions, and I have always found this actor to have a lot of talent which could be better used in other circumstances. Picture quality wise, the film is abysmal - everything seems overly yellow and it is a real shame that such a beautiful setting as Sardinia could not have been filmed in natural colors. I also mention the low audio quality and whilst liking the title song, would have preferred it to be sung in Italian rather than Spanish - there is something that defies all logic here but I can only conclude that the film director was under the misapprehension that the island of Sardinia was part of Spain !!

R. Ignacio Litardo If you liked films like "camping", this will make you laugh too! Look beyond the "funny, great actors and nice landscapes" label and you'll see a mosaic of different personalities (or shall we say "personality disorders":)? Anyway, the casting is great, the musical theme is always there to cheer us up, and the plot is complex enough that can withstand watching it again after a couple of years and still discover new meanings, let alone other jokes. Leconte made films as diverse as the masterful "Ridicule" (1996) and "Veuve de Saint-Pierre, La" (2000), which proves he can basically direct anything! One of his last oeuvres, "Mon meilleur ami" has the same "perfectly crafted but light" touch, but I think Bronzés 3 at least is more human, less politically correct. And it doesn't try to convey any "meaning".Christian Clavier already showed us in "Vengeance d'une blonde, La" that he can have a film turn round him. In this case it's a bit less obvious, but even when he's not to blame, one is almost expecting "what he'll do next"! He's great as a likable troubled misfit, making us wiser by looking at his misery, tics and stubbornness.This is a film on hearing, or the lack of communication. Since the beginning, when Jérôme Tarayre greets Thierry Lhermitte as "Popeye" even when he clearly says "Robert!", everybody has their own problems and couldn't care less for anybody else. Robert "Popeye" Lespinasse is no less tragic than Jérôme, he's only wealthier and more handsome. Ornella Muti is a bit of a disappointment. She doesn't act very well, and her looks are, to my dismay, not as stunning as they used to be. Gisèle 'Gigi' André is fine as the stupid blonde a bit overdue but nevertheless charming as a stereotype :). Funny to have learned she's the wife of Clavier in real life!Josiane Balasko is cool as usual. I feel her talents are a bit underused here. Arthur Jugnot, who plays his husband, is quite better developed. Just when you forget about this eternal complainer, he pops up. Balasko has one of the best phrases: "Stop that circus!".The IMDb message board on "L'allemande's dog" reveals just one of the great jokes that you may have missed. Michel Blanc is obviously one of the best comedians around. This guy is afraid of nothing to make us laugh! After his Denis in "Marche à l'ombre" (1984), he doesn't stop surprising us. 'Jessie la Mèche', the way he mixes some English words, his wigs, "Putain d'Europe!".. The mute groom, the beautiful cook Popeye tapes when she says her dream to him "cuisses", the captain Giuseppe's stern "tojour morte, merci", the unionized lobster thief...all secondary characters are superb!I'm glad to read that a IMDb message board thread is "Quel est votre bronzé préferé?". This film deserves its "cult following".I'll go to sleep listening to "baila" from Zucchero. Not bad for a "simple" comedy!PS: The scenery is beautiful, yes. I had the luck of watching it on a THX cinema so now on TV5 I can remember the experience.

alexinou This comment does not contain spoilers.So, 3rd installment of the holidays of the "Bronzés" (the "sun tanned" in French). Boy, am I glad I did not buy the DVD. And do I feel sorry for the friend who did.Anyway, 27 years after the previous 2 movies (Les Bronzés, 1978, tt0077276 on IMDb and Les Bronzés font du ski, 1979, tt0078907 on IMDb, both excellent comedies), the characters all get back together again. They are the same, played by the same actors. The comedy, unfortunately, is not the same.The first 2 movies relied on well too known situations to anyone in France (or in Europe) going on holiday. If you have been on holiday skiing or to the seaside, you have LIVED what the previous 2 movies depicted. They both were very, very good at pointing all these defects we have, all these little things that can go wrong, all these little stupid reactions you have because you just can't help it. And they felt so true. The characters were mean, greedy, selfish, jealous, stupid, you name it. But somehow, they were endearing, you felt like you knew them, because you had gone through the same. Everything felt so familiar.All this is exactly what all of us, who had seen the first 2 and were waiting for the 3rd one, were expecting.And all this, is precisely what this 3rd movie is not. This movie has nothing to do with you, nothing to do with me, nothing to do with your holidays and how they can look or feel like. This movie mostly relies on obvious, exaggerated jokes. If you see some mildly comic effect at the beginning, you know it will be repeated over and over beyond the limits of your patience. You might come to identify with some of the characters: when they don't want to hear about one of their "friend's" problem, you will think, just like them, "just leave us alone and shut up, I don't want to hear about it anymore!!!"About half way through it (well I was hoping a good 90 minutes had passed already and that the end was near, but my watch, the traitor, told me there was still quite a lot to bear), after so much screaming and so much of the same over and over again, I just wished it would finish QUICK !!!Don't waste your time nor your good memories of the old films. No, seriously. Don't.