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Dany Boon, André Dussollier, Nicolas Marie, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Yolande Moreau ... see more see more... , Julie Ferrier , Omar Sy , Dominique Pinon , Michel Cremades , Marie-Julie Baup , Urbain Cancelier , Patrick Paroux , Jean-Pierre Becker , Stéphane Butet , Philippe Girard , Doudou Masta , Eric Naggar , Arsene Mosca , Manon Le Moal , Félicité N'Gijol , Bernard Bastereaud , Tony Gaultier , Stephanie Gesnel , Noe Boon , Julia Gunthel

An underground lair serves as the point of inspiration for this deeply whimsical fantasy comedy (with echoes of Jodorowsky's Rainbow Thief) from French cause célèbre Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie, The Ci... read more read more...ty of Lost Children). The locale is post-9/11 Europe. As arms dealers go head to head with one another in a series of violent skirmishes -- suggesting that an apocalyptic cataclysm may be lingering on the horizon -- the unfortunate Bazil (Dany Boon) still reels from the long-ago death of his father from a roadside bomb, an event that left him orphaned as a boy. Now employed in a low-paying job as a video-store clerk, and still trying to determine how he fits into the scheme of things, he gets hit by a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting and promptly lands in the hospital. Upon release, he finds himself broke and unemployed. Hope soon crops up, however, in the form of Placard (Jean-Pierre Marielle), an ex-convict living in a scrap dump with a motley group of social outcasts -- all of whom welcome Bazil with warmth, compassion, and hospitality. Sure of his place for the first time in his life, Bazil joins forces with them to turn the dump into a lovely underground home, filled to the rafters with extraordinary inventions and sculptures. Soon after, the possibility of revenge against the munitions manufacturers responsible for Bazil's dad's death presents itself. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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74% liked it

9,889 ratings

Critics

74% liked it

129 critics

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Release Date: May 28, 2010

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DVD Release Date: December 14, 2010

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Flixster Reviews (1,123)

  • itsjustme2004
    November 14, 2011
    itsjustme2004
    It's no secret that I am not the biggest French movie fan, but this one I found rather entertaining. A little strange, at times. The French sure do have a different sort of sense of humor. All in all, though, this movie rang alot of of my quirky bells...which kept me watching. No... read moret too shabby.
  • hunterjt13
    July 27, 2011
    hunterjt13
    A man who has been shot and his motley group of friends pit arms manufacturers against one another.
    Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who is probably most famous in the States for Amelie, has a few signatures that you can see in every one of his films. First, each character is almost a... read morelways given an extensive backstory so that there are never minor characters just like, in life, there are never minor people. Second, the characters and situations are usually remarkably inventive and cleverly constructed. In Micmacs he's one for two. The main character is given five minutes of backstory, and his team of cohorts are given almost none, but the ploys they devise to catch the arms dealers are almost always delightfully carried. Watching a Jeunet character solve a problem is almost like watching a good magician.
    Other critics have discussed the political message embedded in the film. One positive review, by Ty Burr, states, "Micmacs is the equivalent of a circus troupe setting up a tent in a war zone: You're entertained, even delighted, but after a while you suspect there are more serious matters at hand," but a negative review calls it "shallow." I saw the politics as tangential to the central, character-driven concern, and though I sympathize with both of those points, it didn't ruin the film for me by either bogging me down with a message or having the message so separate from the plot that the final moment seems like a departure.
    Dominique Pinon is remarkable, a effervescent character actor, but the lead, Dany Boon, plays Bazil too cluelessly. Bazil doesn't seem like a clever guy when we first meet him, so when the plot makes his character perform clever ploys, it seems strange.
    Overall, Micmacs is bound to be a disappointment for Jeunet fans, but it is nonetheless a solid, entertaining spectacle.
  • deano
    July 24, 2011
    deano
    This French film is amusing vigilante story and breezy fun. With one notable expection, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's films are rich, textured and enjoyably eccentric affairs, and have deservedly earned him favourable comparisons with the likes of Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton. But Jeunet'... read mores style and vision, which reached its apex in Amélie, offers more consistent results than either of those filmmakers.
    The result plays out like Amélie's little life-improving schemes, albeit with a revenge motive and a team of conspirators. Lacking the vast resources of their quarry, Bazil and Co. prove to be genius improvisers - in one case performing a heist with a household alarm clock, a human cannonball and a gold fish bowl full of wasps. It's impressively inventive and entertainingly convoluted stuff.
    But while virtually every frame creaks with inspiration, you can't help but come away feeling there's something missing. Perhaps it's to do with being so conditioned to expect a pay-off for every set-up. The extensive film-referencing comes, to a great degree, out of the fact that the pre-brainwound Bazil is a movie nut.
    A more significant issue is Bazil himself. Whereas Amélie had at its heart a lovable, luminous brunette imp, here we have a large, blank-faced man of few words. And he's nowhere near as engaging. Dany Boon is a big deal in his homeland, but his appeal is yet to travel. We get that Bazil is shellshocked, but it does rather seem like Boon's coasting or, at least, failing to find the heart of his character while he's too busy playing on the surface. You may not be surprised to find that Boon started out as a mime.
  • aliceinpunderland
    May 23, 2011
    aliceinpunderland
    A bit of a mess. Lots of intrigue and espionage (fitting for a movie entitled Non-Stop Shenanigans), but it's all a little too much fun and confusing for the political message embedded within. As such, the thesis on irresponsible tactics of war is as shallow as the one i... read moren The Girl In the Cafe. However, the colors and soundtrack are delightful as I've come to expect of Jeunet, of course.
  • FrizzDrop
    May 5, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    The brilliance of Jeunet's directing is that he places ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Not only does the main character's father die from testing land mines, but he is in turn shot by a stray bullet. Bazil (Boon) becomes a homeless wretch, and is adopted by a quirky ... read moreclan of salvage yard inventors and creators. The characters themselves are overly odd, their pitfalls in life overpowering the storyline at times. Still, you can't help but be amazed at the contortionist sneaking into war lord's residences, a human calculator measuring out everything from the distance to shoot a cannon to the head sizes of her friends, and an animated Dominique Pinon (one of Jeunet's favorites) trying to get himself back into the Guiness Book of World Records by any means necessary. The cast and storyline are endearing and at times sentimental, much like the director's previous work. Your enjoyment is clinched by your tastes, and for me, this was a treat. Not his strongest work, but definitely worth watching.
  • ceWEBrity
    March 5, 2011
    ceWEBrity
    Bog-standard Jeunet: outlandish characters, a plot dancing wildly on the edge of coincidence, and with something significant to say at the end of all the quirk. It seems almost shameful that a film can feel rote simply by virtue of feeling too different, but would anyone really h... read moreave expected anything else at this point in the game from the man behind one of France's hugest hits? Amelie was ahead of the pack, and now that everyone know that its kind of madcap entropy is what sells, films like Micmacs are going to keep cheapening it until the genre's dead on its feet. This is not to begrudge Micmacs its virtues, as I enjoyed its head-spinningly indirect challenge to the arms industry and the giddy way it unifies all of its seemingly disparate elements, but if you've seen any of Jeunet's work there's really nothing in here that will rock your world. Fun and totally inessential.

    Also, why are all of his films so fucking yellow?
  • Saxia
    January 31, 2011
    Saxia
    One of the lesser Jeunets, if you ask me. I expected more of it..
  • Beefy
    January 25, 2011
    Beefy
    Full on Jeunetian whimsy, nearly undercutting some serious thoughts about weapons manufacturing.
  • LWOODS04
    December 15, 2010
    LWOODS04
    Cast: Dany Boon, André Dussollier, Nicolas Marié, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Yolande Moreau, Julie Ferrier, Omar Sy, Dominique Pinon, Michel Crémadès

    Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

    Summary: French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet takes a satirical look at the global arms trade with ... read morethis foreign-language comedy starring Dany Boon as Bazil, who rallies his friends to take down weapons manufacturers responsible for his father's death. Bazil also discovers a dump into an underground haven for cool tools and sculptures crafted from discarded junk.

    My Thoughts: "This was my first time seeing a film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and I am impressed enough to want to see more from him. Very creative characters. A great group of odd misfits. Their lovable and quirky, every one of them. I loved all the creations by Tiny Pete.The film is visually artistic. It is fun and will make you for sure laugh. A charming film I think anyone will enjoy."
  • MrMarakai
    October 3, 2010
    MrMarakai
    Director Jean-Pierre Juenet certainly has an idiosyncratic style and if your familiar with, and enjoyed, his other films "Delicatessen" and "Amelie" then you will find plenty to enjoy here. As it's - in his own words - a cross between the two.
    Bazil (Dany Boon) is film buff who ... read moreluckily works as a video store clerk. Unluckily though, he witnesses a shooting one evening which leaves him with a stray bullet lodged in his head. After surviving the incident and learning that the symbol on the bullet is also the same symbol that was on the landmine that killed his father years ago, he sets about to bring down the arms dealers responsible and enlists the help of a group of former circus performers, inventors and all round social misfits to aide his revenge.
    Jeunet's usual visual flair and eccentric oddball characters are ever present as is, his knack for finding art in the every-day. There are very few directors working today with the vision and inventiveness that Juenet consistantly shows (the Coens being notable others). As close as your likely to get to a live-action cartoon, ranging from human cannonballs to a bowl full of wasps dangling precariously above it's target with an alarm clock ticking, waiting to send it on it's way. Very inventive and creative throughout but it suffers from being poorly paced and not entirely keeping you engaged and as Juenet would like to claim that it's a mix of both "Delicatessen" and "Amelie", it unfortunately lacks the surreal darkness of the former and the beauty and charm of the latter. However, if you view this on it's own merit, without comparison, you may well be less critical, as it's still a fine addition to Juenet's wonderful work and a very enjoyable and entertaining watch.

View All Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore
September 1, 2010
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Minor, almost trite, but still worth treasuring if you're not put off by "precious." Full Review

Tom Long
July 16, 2010
Tom Long, Detroit News

While the parts are quite good, the sum is pretty pedestrian. Full Review

Eric D. Snider
July 1, 2010
Eric D. Snider, Film.com

I suspect this is what the world looks like in Jeunet's head all the time. Full Review

Christopher Kelly
June 25, 2010
Christopher Kelly, Dallas Morning News

Micmacs, finally, is a romp through comic cinema history in which everything zips by so fast that you're too distracted to notice that it's all completely meaningless. Full Review

Carrie Rickey
June 17, 2010
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

Spiced with melancholy and magic, Micmacs is an imaginative live-action film with the playfulness of an animation like Ratatouille. Full Review

Peter Rainer
June 11, 2010
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

The films of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet are so rabidly inventive that, if you waltz into them unawares, you're likely to feel poleaxed. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
June 11, 2010
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

Micmacs ends with an elaborate set piece celebrating illusion at its most seductive, but the movie itself winds up feeling like just that: an exercise in surface tricks and sleight of hand, without mu... Full Review

Colin Covert
June 10, 2010
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Whimsical, theatrical and long on make-believe, it's as light as a feather and twice as ticklish. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
June 3, 2010
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

I found this film unbearable, almost unwatchable. Fifteen minutes in, I felt as though I'd been drugged, and I stayed awake only by shifting constantly ... Full Review

Betsy Sharkey
June 3, 2010
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

A whimsical whirligig of a movie filled with salvaged metal and salvaged lives, where a bullet to the brain brings insight and a bunch of clever misfits bring a couple of weapons-making giants to thei... Full Review

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