Franck Dubosc is immensely known for his comedic performances, including the indescribable Patrick Chirac of Campinga character who never stops pursuing him. Thanks to him, he became famous and received recognition from the general public. However, at the turn of a role, of a scene, we feel a regret appear in his beautiful faded blue eye, seemingly tiny, but tenacious and persistent. That of not having shown his true talent and above all of not being taken seriously by intellectual critics and the snobbish intelligentsia. We could thus see him in a few rare scenes of Prodigious bring precious moments of emotion and fantasy. After two well-received films (Everyone standing, Rumba life) which essentially revolved around his comic character, even if for his first he rather approached with finesse a delicate subject, that of disability, Dubosc decides a risky change of direction by pouring into black and absurd comedy with A Bear in the Jura.
Michel and Cathy, a couple worn down by time and financial difficulties, no longer really speak to each other. Until the day when Michel, to avoid a bear on the road, hits a car and kills the two occupants. 2 deaths and 2 million in used notes in the safe, obviously it makes you want to talk again. And above all to keep quiet. While this small family is getting back afloat, the local policeman is lurking around.
A Bear in the Jura is rather a nice way to start the year, with bursts of bloody laughter against a backdrop of white snow.
When turning A Bear in the JuraFranck Dubosc wanted to be taken seriously as a director, by making a surprising change of tone and drawing inspiration from the snowy thrillers that illuminated the end of the 90s (A simple plan by Sam Raimi, Affliction by Paul Schrader, and especially Fargo of the Coen brothers). The film therefore starts with a bang with a cascade of accidents which will degenerate into deaths which pile up in spades. Let us recognize a true virtuosity in Franck Dubosc who simultaneously handles cold humor as well as deaths in abundance in well-executed action sequences. The Coenian challenge is thus rather well met.
Then comes the heart of the film: we realize thatA Bear in the Jura is ultimately a comedy of remarriage, Dubosc forming with Laure Calamy a household that is struggling, with an almost autistic son. Thanks to the slaughter of the actors, to which we must add the excellent Benoît Poelvoorde and Joséphine de Meaux, as gendarmes devoted to the cause of justice, this part works rather well until Poelvoorde's visit to the household being rebuilt. It is unfortunately after this moment that the scenario gets bogged down a little, until the action restarts in the last quarter of an hour, with a deus ex machina that no one would have expected a priori. The moral of this amoral film will therefore consist of telling us that money will not bring happiness but can serve to strengthen the bonds of a broken couple.
In this case, despite some length concerns, Franck Dubosc generally holds up to his challenge of changing register, by assuming the risk of a change of image which will allow him to open up to other types of films. Without being a masterpiece or rising to the level of his models, which he probably does not seek, A Bear in the Jura is rather a nice way to start the year, with bursts of bloody laughter against a backdrop of white snow.
RÉALISATEUR : Franck Dubosc NATIONALITÉ : française GENRE : comédie noire AVEC : Franck Dubosc, Laure Calamy, Benoit Poelvoorde, Joséphine de Meaux, Kim Higelin DURÉE : 1h53 DISTRIBUTEUR : Gaumont SORTIE LE 1er janvier 2025
