Dawn French plays a successful writer of tour guides who arrives in a small French village and tries to transform it from modernized and drab to rural and picturesque, just like she describes it in her latest book. The transformation is a success and British tourists flock to the village, but the local residents are getting fed up with the egomaniac writer and decide to do something about it....something very drastic! This is probably the most ambitious and daring episode of the series so far, both in production and in script. But it's best if you watch it knowing as little about it as possible, so I won't mention the two very famous movies it reminded me more of (one of which was made - incredibly enough - the FOLLOWING year); I'll just tell you to keep watching until the last second. Remember: the last second. That's when "Magnez Merveillac" turns from an average episode poking fun at the usual British stereotypical views of the French (not Dawn French, THE French) to one of the best episodes of the series. Bonus for Poirot fans: Phillip - Inspector Japp - Jackson has the second largest role after Dawn. *** out of 4.
2 Reviews
One for Hislop & Newman to forget
simon_welch29 December 2010
This must have seemed a great idea on paper. Satirise the then highly popular genre initiated by Peter Mayle in "A Year in Provence" of Brits going to rural France / Spain / Italy, making it with the locals and then writing their best selling account filling with wit and local col;our. Surely, low hanging fruit just ready for picking? Unfortunately, they used this Dawn French series as their vehicle.
The story concerns French as the successful writer sent by her publisher to write an account of rural France, finding some corner that has not already been written about - "not an easy job". Such searing wit! Naturally, French's account differs entirely from reality, becomes a best seller, etc, etc. Problems then arise as tourists arrive, seeking this idyll she describes and the episode details her attempts to get the locals to conform.
In the hands of these two noted satirists, the humour should have been sharp, but the writing is weak and French is not the actor to turn this around. If not exactly a turkey, it certainly rates as a chicken and will not appear, one suspects, on any of their CVs.
The story concerns French as the successful writer sent by her publisher to write an account of rural France, finding some corner that has not already been written about - "not an easy job". Such searing wit! Naturally, French's account differs entirely from reality, becomes a best seller, etc, etc. Problems then arise as tourists arrive, seeking this idyll she describes and the episode details her attempts to get the locals to conform.
In the hands of these two noted satirists, the humour should have been sharp, but the writing is weak and French is not the actor to turn this around. If not exactly a turkey, it certainly rates as a chicken and will not appear, one suspects, on any of their CVs.
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