Mais qui a tué Pamela Rose? (2003)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Eric Lartigau

Writers:

Olivier Baroux (writer)
Kad Merad (writer)

Release Date:

4 June 2003 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Un indice: le coupable est dans le film

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Rescue | Kidnapping | Investigation | Parody

Cast

Kad Merad	...	Richard Bullit (as Kad)
Olivier Baroux	...	Douglas Riper (as Olivier)
Gérard Darmon	...	Phil Canon
Jean-Paul Rouve	...	Le shérif Steve Marley
Bénédicte Loyen	...	Ginger
Lionel Abelanski	...	Thomas Filbee
Julie Bataille	...	Pamela Rose
Manuel Le Lièvre	...	Luke Ribisi
Greg Germain	...	Johnson
François Cluzet	...	Gibson
Alain Chabat	...	Peter Mc Gray
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean-Noël Brouté	...	Le médecin légiste
Marina Foïs	...	La cliente de la pharmacie
Jacques Frantz	...	Récitant (fin du film) (voice)
Thierry Frémont	...	Mike
Virginie Ledoyen	...	La femme de ménage
Jean-Claude Leguay	...	Le chef démineur
Xavier Letourneur	...	Capitaine Donuts
Joseph Malerba	...	Le pharmacien
Astou Vedel	...	FBI woman

Also Known As:

Bullit et Riper (France) (working title)

Runtime:

France:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

France:U | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Eric Lartigau]on the phone, to the right of the door when Douglas Ripper leaves the toilets in the club

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Analyse diégetique d'un film matriciel (2004) (V)

A rather subtle parody

(If you want to see this movie, you might not want to read my comment, which contains spoilers).

"Mais qui a tué Pamela Rose" is the natural product of two men who have been watching too many American "whodunit". Hey, come on, we all have seen so many of those... and we like it, don't we? What's better than a "film noir"? That's probably what Kad and Olivier thought too; so they made a parody of these movies for us - and a rather good one. The peculiar thing about this movie is that the authors went to the very end of their idea. Along with all the murder and inquiry plot, they took from American "whodunit"... America. Hey, what if we all were American? So, they took natural sets and landscape of France and pretended them to be some Middle West place called Borsnville. Of course, they transformed them a little, and some sets are actually convincing (I think of the restaurants scenes, and the Motel). The characters are American too. Americans from the depth of America, characters taken straight out of some dark road movie. (the strip-teaser, the sheriff, the radio guy...).

Kad and Olivier have made what no one else has done before: on purpose, they have recreated a unique America, one made with heart by admirers who pretend they only know it from the outside, from movies. For instance, the name of the secondary characters are uncongruous common names, English words that just stick out from films when we see them over here: Mr Donuts, Dan Nuggets... and Riper has a recommendation from... Stevie Wonder! Another example of that is the "FBI University"... I really don't think such a thing exists!

In this extraordinary set evolve characters who want so badly to be American, who truly seem to believe they are. Jean-Pierre Rouve is great -and subtle- as this sheriff who feels that he might be homosexual... Darmont is impressive as a leather figure with santiag boots (I never thought I'd see him clad like that!). And, of course, Kad and Olivier -almost convincing in FBI agents!- are such as they always are: funny.

Well, time is to talk about the most important thing: the movie itself, its rhythm, its humour. If you like Kad and Olivier's sense of humour, you won't be disappointed. From the very first minute (a dedication to Christopher Colombus, the lad who "invented" America) to the last it is there, made of very seriously pronounced nonsense and silly drifts in classical situations -I like it because it is more of a language humour than a visual one. The first thirty minutes of the movie are hilarious, like this scene where Kad deals with Colombian drug dealers, or Olivier teaching in the FBI University. The second part of the movie is too slow with many punch lines just not up to our expectations. But overall, one has a very good time with this rather subtle parody: a good plot, good actors, and the precious feeling it's not been seen before.