Should one go watch the film of Alex Lutz?

You obviously know him for his role as Catherine in the sketches of Catherine and Liliane aired on Canal + and maybe even for his eccentric one-man-shows during which he does not hesiate to have a live horse come on the stage. In his second film, Alex Lutz is totally bluffing in the skin of Guy Jamet, and older singer that ran the gamut of tubes from the 70s to the 90s.  Here is a quick synopsis:

In the skin of an old man that is heading straight for the club of octogenarians, Alex Lutz, himself having just turned forty, sends out heavy duty stuff. The elocution and mimics of the old guy are totally believable, gestures are carefully thought out, the make-up is bluffing et even if there is a little paunch in front! In addition to incarnating this singer halfway between Michel Sardou and Claude François, the actor also takes on the entire repertoire Guy Jamet, specially created for the film. Accompanied by the women of his life incarnated by Elodie Bouchez during flashbacks of his youth, then by singer Dani, the old man continues road show for an audience with a rather high average public!

Because Alex Lutz never does anything like the rest of the world, the images of the film, that appear as a series of rush clips are filmed by a certain Gauthier who pretends to be shooting a series of personality portraits. We learn, right from the beginning, that this young man is in fact the hidden son of Guy. Since the singer was not even aware of his existence, he accepts to be filmed in his daily setting and his intimacy for his last years on the stage. The result? A tempo with a mix of pseudo rush documentaries intermingled with archive images of old clips where a young Alex Lutz appears in black and white sporting a dubious and hilarious style.

While the film starts off at a fast past with the bluffing presence of the actor-film directors, hilarious one liners (yes, impossible not to have fun with Alex Lutz in the picture), and a touching story of an ageing star who has become more sedate with time, the rhythm weakens after an hour and ends up repeating itself. In short, we validate but would have preferred to lop off twenty minutes.

Also discover the interview of Nicolas Duvauchelle pegged to the release of his film “Bonhomme”.