Vendeur (2016)

Me ,a salesman?No way!

Serge is a winner ,a young Turk who has his sights fixed high;he is second to none when it comes to sell kitchen furniture even to people who do not need it.An artful devil,he has his way with customers:" It's a month too late to take advantage of our special offer/No matter,I can make an exception".First acquaintance shows an unsympathetic selfish man who divorced his son Gerald's mother and hardly asks from news of her ;a fifty-something ,he pretends to be thirty and his mistress could be his daughter.However,cracks in the mirror appear:he drinks,he 's a heavy smoker and he is often high on cocaine .We see him cough and suffocate .

Gérald took a divergent way;with his wife ,Karol,he used to run a restaurant which they have just lost;so the son asks for a temporary job in the kitchen furniture firm :unfortunately ,it's Gérald's wish ,but it's Serge's reality ;overnight sonny reveals himself a poor salesman :he is too honest to succeed .But he does not consider his father a hero: the scene in the bar when he cuts him down to size clinches their rivalry.

The briefing scenes are very impressive ,with Christian Hecq ,De La Comédie Française, injecting more fierce determination you could think of.But does this road paved with gold lead anywhere?

The rather mediocre rating on IMDb board is partly justified : the screenplay is desultory and the parts of Gerald and mainly of his wife Karol are too underwritten ;the latter could have counterbalanced the father's attitude (it should be pointed out that ,in 2016,there is not a single woman in the coach 's team, guys who sell kitchen furniture,all the same !).On the other hand ,the scenes with the mistress ,Chloé , are too long and pure filler .And it's infuriating to see newcomer Desclous succumb to his fellow directors' main vice: including songs in English all along his movie;most of them bear no relation to the plot ,and when ,at a pinch ,they do,if the words are more or less adequate ,the atmosphere of the track does not fit the movie (Canadian Gordon Lightfoot 's "high and dry").French directors , do use French songs,please!

That said ,and because of many scenes which ring true (those of the business ,chiefly),you should watch this movie;this modern "dog eat dog "case of the father has a contemporary feel ;and the old son's dream ,as old as that of Jean Gabin's "La Belle Equipe "(1936) makes a sharp contrast to it.And Gabin ,he did sing in French!

Like this ?Try this .....

" Tu Seras Mon Fils " ,Gilles Legrand ,2011