'Untouchable' review by Captain Raptor
A French drama based on a true story about a young inner-city black kid who forms an emotional bond with a quadriplegic high-society aristocrat. I'd call it Oscar gold but for whatever reason it didn't even warrant a mention at the Academy Awards. Either way, Untouchable seems to have been one of the most warmly received films of recent years, receiving showers of accolades and reviews singing its praises, so I decided to check it out.
Interestingly enough, it's the comedy of the film that I appreciate more than the drama. The drama at the heart of the story isn't really anything new. The presentations of poverty, of family drama and of illness are fairly standard of the genre and if this was the majority of the film's content then I'd describe it as wholly unremarkable. However, the characters treat the serious subject matter with enough flippancy to be funny without ever going so far that in borders on mocking or to detract from the film's emotional impact (which is just as well as there isn't much of one anyway). Even when spoken in an entirely different language to the viewer's, Omar Sy's assured delivery is clearly impeccable, and it's just refreshing to hear jokes about the issues of race, disability and poverty done so well, without any attempts at controversy or edginess. The script is very well-written, being both extraordinarily funny for a drama and providing genuine sympathy for characters who could have quite easily been very lazily written and still achieve our sympathy, given their respective situations.
There's a few niggling problems I have with the film - an ending that's a bit of a non-event, a little sprinkling of casual misogyny here and there - but ultimately the main issue with Untouchable is simply what it's not: it's not an emotionally packed powerhouse of a drama, it's not a hilarious idiosyncratic comedy, it's not an uplifting, warm, feel-good movie, much more it's a hybrid of the three. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this makes the film in any way bad, but with the overwhelming amount of positivity that people have expressed about this movie, I was kind of expecting it to provoke an extreme reaction within me. It's very witty at times and there's some incredibly funny moments, and the two leads are excellent in their roles, but it's neither as intense, as funny or as moving as I feel it could have been.
Untouchable isn't really what it was hyped up to be, but my no means does that make it a bad film. It's certainly above average and worth a watch. It's enjoyable, very humorous and in some respects very individual and a breath of fresh air. Everything that's present works; but there could have been more than what is present. Not disappointing, but it's certainly no worthy of it's ranking on IMDB as 61st best film ever made.
Interestingly enough, it's the comedy of the film that I appreciate more than the drama. The drama at the heart of the story isn't really anything new. The presentations of poverty, of family drama and of illness are fairly standard of the genre and if this was the majority of the film's content then I'd describe it as wholly unremarkable. However, the characters treat the serious subject matter with enough flippancy to be funny without ever going so far that in borders on mocking or to detract from the film's emotional impact (which is just as well as there isn't much of one anyway). Even when spoken in an entirely different language to the viewer's, Omar Sy's assured delivery is clearly impeccable, and it's just refreshing to hear jokes about the issues of race, disability and poverty done so well, without any attempts at controversy or edginess. The script is very well-written, being both extraordinarily funny for a drama and providing genuine sympathy for characters who could have quite easily been very lazily written and still achieve our sympathy, given their respective situations.
There's a few niggling problems I have with the film - an ending that's a bit of a non-event, a little sprinkling of casual misogyny here and there - but ultimately the main issue with Untouchable is simply what it's not: it's not an emotionally packed powerhouse of a drama, it's not a hilarious idiosyncratic comedy, it's not an uplifting, warm, feel-good movie, much more it's a hybrid of the three. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this makes the film in any way bad, but with the overwhelming amount of positivity that people have expressed about this movie, I was kind of expecting it to provoke an extreme reaction within me. It's very witty at times and there's some incredibly funny moments, and the two leads are excellent in their roles, but it's neither as intense, as funny or as moving as I feel it could have been.
Untouchable isn't really what it was hyped up to be, but my no means does that make it a bad film. It's certainly above average and worth a watch. It's enjoyable, very humorous and in some respects very individual and a breath of fresh air. Everything that's present works; but there could have been more than what is present. Not disappointing, but it's certainly no worthy of it's ranking on IMDB as 61st best film ever made.
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