The Intouchables Review

I rode my bike downtown today to meet a friend for lunch and a movie. We ate at a locally owned restaurant that uses local produce and meat, often from their own garden. I've been eating lunch there once or twice a week lately, not just because the food is as good as what I could cook at home, but because I feel good about eating there. OK, and because it's like Cheers. They know my name.

Today I ordered the Tuscan grilled cheese (balsamic marinated mozarella, local tomatoes, house-made pesto, pancetta on chiabatta), fennel/mushroom/shallot soup, and salad made from greens from their garden. I rode 14 miles on my bike today, and I'll need to ride another 50 to balance the calories, but it was worth it. I have another lunch date there Thursday. I should probably buy bigger jeans.

After lunch we strolled around a little two-block area of (again) locally owned stores, bars, and porn shops. A used book store captured us for a while, and then a silver jewelry store. It's much safer to shop when I'm riding my bike, because I travel light. No bulky paniers for me.

We got to the movie at our little (locally owned--sense a theme here?) art theater just a tad late, damn it. If only I hadn't had to go to the bathroom and then buy Junior Mints, we might have caught the first 60 seconds. No matter though. Once we blindly groped our way to a pair of seats, sat down and started watching, we were entranced. If you haven't seen The Untouchables, please go see it right now. No, really. Go now.

I didn't realize it was a French movie with subtitles or I might not have gone. I've never seen a French  movie what wasn't fucking insane, and frankly, I've never known a French woman I liked, but that's another story.

The subtitles didn't matter at all, and this movie wasn't what I expect from a French movie. It actually had a plot and characters I could understand. And one of the leads, François Cluzet, looks so much like Dustin Hoffman I felt like I was watching an American movie.

Like any story, a summary doesn't do it justice, but I'll give it a couple of sentences. I doubt you'll be persuaded by them though. It's the actors who bring this story to life.

Summary: A rich white quadrapalegic hires a poor young black man, played by Omar Sy, to take care of him, and of course both of their lives are changed by the experience. The contrast between their lives and personalities makes the story of their bond sweet and poignant, but definitely not sticky.

Omar Sy is hot, hot, hot. Just watching him dance to Earth, Wind and Fire's "Boogie Wonderland" is worth the price of a ticket. (Of course it's on youtube, so here it is, but only as a teaser. You have to see the movie.)

Doesn't that make you want to dance your ass off to some old disco? I wish I knew a locally owned disco where I could do that.

But go see it for the story, because the final bit of coolness is that this is a true story. And you will feel joyful after you watch it, because people can be happy even after they've had cosmic shit rain down on them in torrents. And all the money in the world won't innoculate you from shit storms, but you can still be happy (if you have enough money. I'm not fucking Pollyanna).

This afternoon gave me a few hours of reprieve from the shitstorms in my life. If you do see The Intouchables, let me know what you think.

When is the last time you played hookie on a beautiful summer afternoon?