Micmacs

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet returns to quirky Amelie territory with this frantic comedy about a video store worker (Dany Boon) who seeks revenge upon the ammunition company that manufactured the bullet lodged in his head and the landmine building company that killed his father in war. The film mixes comedy with a little political commentary, and the two don’t balance themselves out well. The movie is often a visual feast, but Jeunet gets carried away with his trademark distortions of reality, to a point where the film actually becomes tedious. Jeunet is clever, but perhaps a little too clever for his own good. It’s a shame because Boon’s central performance is charming at times, and some of the set pieces and scenarios are a kick. I especially liked a human cannonball sequence and a comical factory explosion. It’s a near miss.