Greg and Gentillon chronicles the lives of two French-Canadian comedians going to Toronto to "make it big" after achieving modest success in Aylmer.
I rented this film because I'm from Aylmer. I was intrigued at first because I went to Grande-Riviere high school, I had the same French teacher, I've been to "La Brass", etc. so it was cool seeing all this featured in a film.
However, the film simply wasn't funny or original.
The duo inevitably fail in their quest for fame and fortune because they are simply not funny. Which makes me wonder: what IS supposed to be funny in the film? Am I just supposed to laugh at there misfortune? Is that seriously it? The movie is made in a sort of documentary / mockumentary style. Only the core characters of are actors and the rest are real people, reacting to the the characters and the situations. According to the official web site, "the result is a novel approach to film-making: Fictional characters reacting to real situations with real people while still following a planned storyline delivered entirely through improvisation." This is not at all novel. British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has been doing this for years through his characters Ali G, Borat, etc. but Cohen does this much better.
In fact, at one point during the movie, I asked myself whether this was actually an documentary, because why else would they include scenes that were so unfunny unless they were trying to accurately portray what actually happened? Most of the scenes were quite serious: Gentillon getting smashed-drunk after breaking up with girlfriend, Greg and Gentillon fighting because Greg shows up drunk to their gig, Gentillon taking a job at a call-centre in order to pay the bills, etc. These scenes aren't funny. They're just sad.
Ironically, in one scene, a club patron gives them some good advice that the makers of this movie could have actually benefited from: play up the stereotypes (they could have at least asked someone for directions to "turd" street and insulted the "Leafs" or something) and just be real - don't "act" so much. Part of the problem is that the movie is just too believable. They are supposed to be playing lousy comedians when they are, in fact, lousy comedians themselves. Could it be that they are just pretending to pretend? All in all, Greg and Gentillon is only worth seeing if you are from Aylmer, but even then, I would wait until it's in the old release section.
One final note: At one point during the film, a talent agency representative gives the duo the following piece of advice: Keep on following your dreams but if there is anything else you can do, anything at all, you should do it. Perhaps the filmmakers could take the same advice.
I rented this film because I'm from Aylmer. I was intrigued at first because I went to Grande-Riviere high school, I had the same French teacher, I've been to "La Brass", etc. so it was cool seeing all this featured in a film.
However, the film simply wasn't funny or original.
The duo inevitably fail in their quest for fame and fortune because they are simply not funny. Which makes me wonder: what IS supposed to be funny in the film? Am I just supposed to laugh at there misfortune? Is that seriously it? The movie is made in a sort of documentary / mockumentary style. Only the core characters of are actors and the rest are real people, reacting to the the characters and the situations. According to the official web site, "the result is a novel approach to film-making: Fictional characters reacting to real situations with real people while still following a planned storyline delivered entirely through improvisation." This is not at all novel. British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has been doing this for years through his characters Ali G, Borat, etc. but Cohen does this much better.
In fact, at one point during the movie, I asked myself whether this was actually an documentary, because why else would they include scenes that were so unfunny unless they were trying to accurately portray what actually happened? Most of the scenes were quite serious: Gentillon getting smashed-drunk after breaking up with girlfriend, Greg and Gentillon fighting because Greg shows up drunk to their gig, Gentillon taking a job at a call-centre in order to pay the bills, etc. These scenes aren't funny. They're just sad.
Ironically, in one scene, a club patron gives them some good advice that the makers of this movie could have actually benefited from: play up the stereotypes (they could have at least asked someone for directions to "turd" street and insulted the "Leafs" or something) and just be real - don't "act" so much. Part of the problem is that the movie is just too believable. They are supposed to be playing lousy comedians when they are, in fact, lousy comedians themselves. Could it be that they are just pretending to pretend? All in all, Greg and Gentillon is only worth seeing if you are from Aylmer, but even then, I would wait until it's in the old release section.
One final note: At one point during the film, a talent agency representative gives the duo the following piece of advice: Keep on following your dreams but if there is anything else you can do, anything at all, you should do it. Perhaps the filmmakers could take the same advice.