The Kings of the Track: a deliciously facetious comedy (review)
The incredible adventures of a family of scammers. A light, joyful and deep film at the same time, boosted by its irresistible casting, an unexpected Mathieu Kassovitz in the lead.
A film like a champagne bubble. Accustomed to more dramatic atmospheresticks (The Family Hero …), Thierry Klifa ventures here on the shores of fantasy, in the footsteps of a strange tribe – the mother, her two sons and her grandson – Pieds Nickelés-style scammers including the theft of a painting from during a burglary interrupted by the police will upset the fragile balance, with repeated collateral damage. The story constantly plays with pretenses both in the complex relationships that unite the members of this family and in the private detective and her faithful sidekick, who are on their trail.
In The Kings of the track, everyone deceives everyone and vice versa, to the point that guessing who is telling the truth and when turns out to be a totally impossible mission. Klifa's work is constantly in motion and yet never artificially agitated, regularly causing moments of unrest and emotion to emerge unexpectedly between two bursts of laughter. And its actors seize this rich material with contagious relish: Fanny Ardant in Ma Dalton with the tongue of a viper, Mathieu Kassovitz who we haven't seen so much fun in the cinema for a long time, Nicolas Duvauchelle unrecognizable in the first sense of the term, Laetitia Dosch virtuoso who you would think escaped from a film of De Broca in the lead. It's fine, light, joyful and deep at the same time. Like the other central character of these Kings of the track : the soundtrack by Alex Beaupain.
By Thierry Klifa. With Fanny Ardant, Matthieu Kassovitz, Laetitia Dosch… Duration: 1h56. Released March 13
