Let My People Go! (France)

Bright beautiful colors, this home for the (Passover) holidays gay themed French farce has only one problem. But it's a pretty big one for me. Little ... actual ... laughing. I so so so wanted to love this film. But it left me feeling pretty flat. There are a few things that made me chuckle. For example the Golda Meir themed aerobics studio. Or the "Coming Out of Egypt party" at a gay nightclub with its over the top Passover theme. And I did like the boyfriend's super-new-agey mom. But overall I just kept feeling the script was trying too hard. The setup seemed funny, but hilarity never ensued.

The picture starts out in Finland where the main character, a postman of French Jewish descent lives with his partner. One day on his route he ends up with a large envelope stuffed with Euro bills and a seemingly dead man (the original intended recipient of the cash). After a fight related to trust issues with the boyfried he's kicked out and heads back home to his wacky Jewish family. Where he embarks on dealing with a series of family issues. With only time off to "accidentally" sleep with the family's much older lawyer. Oh, almost forgot - somehow they end up arrested after an incident involving a gun and assaulting a law enforcement officer.  Crazy, righ! Whatever ... great attempt - but just didn't work for me. Based on the audience reaction I may be alone in that assessment. I can certainly see why it was programmed at Palm Springs. With gay, Jewish themes buried within a fluffy window of French farce it's as close to a sure thing audience draw as they're ever gonna get.