It is the story of a man in distress whose unreasonable love for the bottle slowly but surely pushes him towards an irreversible decline. His wife has left, his restaurant is failing, he is riddled with debt and has fallen out with his eldest son Ferdinand (Joseph Olivennes), who has become a chef on the side, a fan of short circuits.
A boat stranded in the garden
What remains of his humanity, he offers to his father (Pierre Richard) and his daughter Madeleine (Madeleine Beauvois). And then he still has the strength to be passionate about the sea in general and the Vendée Globe in particular. When he learns that the Virtual Regatta, which allows you to participate in the race virtually, has a substantial prize, Jean-Paul (Jean-Paul Rouve) decides to embark on the adventure. For this, he settles into a small boat stranded in the garden facing the restaurant.
If his father, his daughter Camille and his two best gay friends Marco (the excellent Xavier Maly) and Omar (Abbès Zahmani), welcome his idea with circumspection, Jean-Paul persists. Although he starts in the ranking more than 100,000 places behind first, he is not discouraged and his “rearguard” discreetly helps him with the wise advice of Michel Desjoyeaux (winner of the Vendée Globe in 2000 and 2008) and Jean Le Cam (the latter having competed in the event six times).
While Jean-Paul is sailing, Ferdinand takes over the kitchen of the restaurant with new ideas which are beginning to find an audience and the help of his friend Antoine (Hugues Delamarlière, wonderful in The red island by Robin Campillo). Obviously, the Niort-based mutual insurance company Macif (which sponsored the winner of the 2012 edition François Gabart and is sponsoring Charlie Dalin this year) is largely present in this initiatory and moving story.
Written by Xavier Beauvois' partner, Marie-Julie Maille (who also edited), The Valley of Fools (this is the other name of Port-La-Forêt, the Mecca of sailors) offers a very rich role to Jean-Paul Rouve. Pierre Richard is both determined and fragile, Xavier Maly as fair as usual and Joseph Olivennes has nothing to envy of the talent of his mother Kristin Scott Thomas.
“The Valley of Fools” – 1:58 a.m. – Wednesday, November 13
