Nicholas on Holiday (2014)

The summer holidays begin, Nicolas and his family travel to the seaside where a whole new series of adventures await them.

Director:

Laurent Tirard

Writers:

René Goscinny (characters), Jean-Jacques Sempé (characters) (as Sempé)

Stars:

Valérie Lemercier, Kad Merad, Dominique Lavanant

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Valérie Lemercier	...	La mère de Nicolas
Kad Merad	...	Le père de Nicolas
Dominique Lavanant	...	Mémé
Bouli Lanners	...	M. Bernique
François-Xavier Demaison	...	Le Bouillon
Luca Zingaretti	...	Le producteur
Judith Henry	...	Mme Bernique
Bruno Lochet	...	M. Leguano
Fabienne Galula	...	Mme Leguano
Mathéo Boisselier	...	Le petit Nicolas
Erja Malatier	...	Isabelle
Chann Aglat	...	Marie-Edwige
Simon Bouvier	...	Blaise
Hugo Sepulveda	...	Fructueux
Rémi Lardy	...	Crépin

Storyline

It's the end of the school year. The long-awaited moment of summer vacation has arrived. Little Nicolas, his parents, and Grandma head to Hotel Beau-Rivage by the seaside. On the beach, Nicolas quickly makes a new set of friends: there's Blaise, who isn't on vacation because he lives in the area, Fructueux, who likes everything, even fish, Djodjo, who doesn't speak like them because he's English, Crépin, who cries all the time, and Côme, who always wants to be right and who is very annoying. But Nicolas also gets to know Isabelle, a little girl who always looks at him with big, round and worried eyes, and who Nicolas believes his parents want to force him to marry. Misunderstandings accumulate, blunders begin. One thing's for sure: for everyone, this will be an unforgettable vacation.

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Plot Keywords:

based on children's book | friendship | holidays | prank | running away from home | 

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Taglines:

Great! It's Holiday Time!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dominique Lavanant replaced Bernadette Lafont who passed away before the beginning of the shooting.

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Goofs

The Hotel holds a masked ball, 'Le grand Bal masqué', but none of the guests is wearing a mask. It is a costume ball rather than a masked ball.

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Crazy Credits

Credits at the start and finish of the film appear on holiday postcards. The credits at the beginning also include some animations on the cards.

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Connections

Spoofs La Grande Vadrouille (1966)

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Soundtracks

Watermelon Man
Written by Herbie Hancock
Performed by Mongo Santamaria

User Reviews

Just a terrible film, whatever your age is

The original Nicolas film, still directed by Laurent Tirard, was cute and funny. Its humour relied upon genuine written material forming consistent scenes and situations, and often based on the child's point-of-view, as in René Goscinny's exquisite little stories. "Les Vacances" relies a lot on nods and references to past cinema, and the rest is either disjointed (loose ends - what happens in the end with the tight spot at the nude beach Nicolas' father gets himself into?...) or simply unlikely. Even though the excellent Valérie Lemercier and Kad Merad still play Nicolas' parents, the actors in general, save for Bouli Lanners as Bernique, are insincere in their delivery and reactions and/or poorly directed. The father is supposed to be heartbroken by his wife extending her stay without him at the crazy big-money party, yet his face remains almost expressionless all the while...

Also, one scene suggests that hurting severely a live animal can be perceived as humorous, which I have found particularly tasteless.

Details

Official Sites:

Wild Bunch Distribution [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

9 July 2014 (France)

Also Known As:

Nicholas on Holiday

Filming Locations:

Plage des Dames, Île de Noirmoutier, Vendée, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$27,567,832

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fidélité Films, M6 Films, Saint Sébastien Froissart

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1