Brutus vs César (2020)

Brutus vs César: Directed by Kheiron. With Kheiron, Thierry Lhermitte, Gérard Darmon, Ramzy Bedia. Faced with the tyranny of Caesar who acts as absolute master over Rome, Senators Rufus and Cassius form a plot to assassinate him.

“Thereu0026#39;s a French expression Iu0026#39;m afraid will be lost in translation, itu0026#39;s a branch of comedy that goes through the designation of u0026quot;potache humoru0026quot;, a term of reference englobing schoolboy pranks humor or the kind of unsophisticated inside jokes a few u0026#39;enlightenedu0026#39; minds can get… itu0026#39;s fair to say that u0026quot;Brutus vs. Caesaru0026quot;, the highly anticipated and advertised swords-sandals-and-sneakers film from Amazon Prime is a monumental chunk of that humor. And hereu0026#39;s a sample: Brutus (played by comedian Kheiron) mistakes a u0026#39;complotu0026#39; reunion for one where they serve u0026#39;compoteu0026#39;, after all, there are u0026#39;racletteu0026#39; parties, arenu0026#39;t there?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI suspect Kheiron has enough common sense to figure out that no half-brain will command laughter from such a stupid joke, but the film aims low, it aims at the chuckle, the little one you almost accidentally exude when a joke is so lame that you laugh at the guts it took to put it in the final cut. That joke made me chuckle or smile but the more such jokes where used, the lower the film sunk in comedic abysses I didnu0026#39;t think were possible. Even Michael Younu0026#39;s films didnu0026#39;t bother with quality plots but he had standards, even the dreadful u0026quot;RRRrrrrr!u0026quot; had the merit to set a realistic design of the prehistoric era, even u0026quot;The Daltonsu0026quot; ventured into fantasy with a meager but still edible narrative… u0026quot;Brutus vs. Caesaru0026quot; had no story, itu0026#39;s a barbecue of little shish kebab jokes up the skewer of lousy vignettes where Rome is set in Morocco and Gauls seems as accessible as the next bus station.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter a round of heartfelt albeit not successful films, I figured Kheironu0026#39;s priority wasnu0026#39;t into convincing the viewer that this was the real Rome -Iu0026#39;m telling you, the film aims low- he doesnu0026#39;t try to emulate u0026quot;Life of Brianu0026quot; or classic French peplum spoofs like u0026quot;A Quarter to Two B. C.u0026quot; or u0026quot;Mission Cleopatrau0026quot; because at least these movies put us in a semblance of realism to better detach us from it, constructing before deconstructing, but u0026quot;Brutus vs. Caesaru0026quot; sets the tone pretty quickly, this is a variation of Rome that only exists for the sake of benign chuckles, itu0026#39;s a sketchy cheap Carthage-looking Rome begging us to suspend our disbelief because… itu0026#39;s only a joke, but the jokes arenu0026#39;t even funny to begin with.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eKheiron is an intelligent person all right and I guess he didnu0026#39;t have the right budget and one could appreciate that the film subverted so many tropes and featured a revisionist take on Roman history with Black soldiers, where Vercingetorix is played by an Arab and so was Caesar – at least Ramzy Bedia is having fun playing the megalomaniac dictator- and Spartacus is a geek who went too hard on Chips and sodas and women are part of the Senate. These anachronistic touches are like the barbed wire preventing any critic to go hard on the film, because if you ever criticize it, you might be labeled a reactionary… but what are these changes for? What do they provide? Are these characters interesting?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf you make a woman senator, give her a substantial thing to do. If you have a TV star on your cast, donu0026#39;t just take them for granted and do something about it. No, itu0026#39;s all an exercice in style and nothing else with a bland character whou0026#39;s got nothing to offer, except falling after running. Thatu0026#39;s the kind of running gag the film can desperately rely on: Brutus canu0026#39;t run. And it doesnu0026#39;t get any better. In one scene a rich plebeian tells his female slave that sheu0026#39;s got no brain, the right pay-off is ruined by her explaining the situation to Spartacus who keeps comically missing the point. The film sabotages its own jokes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd the romance that grows between Kheiron and Lina El Arabi Is played straight as if we were supposed to root for these characters because they were the heroes… it didnu0026#39;t make any sense at all and itu0026#39;s a shame that French cinema should fund such duds while many struggling writers try to come up with elaborate screenplays ; today, the goofiest adaptation of any kiddies comic-book with a bankable face is worth more than whatever efforts some decent creative minds with no connections can pull.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Brutus vs. Caesaru0026quot; is a disaster that canu0026#39;t get away with the the so-called second degree, there are a few jokes here and there but the gags are like the setting: cheap, lowbrow and phony, with a tedious story and an editing that canu0026#39;t save the film from its atrocious look and idiotic directing, the characters are bland and the film is obviously designed to elicit some strong responses from some fans of Kheiron who donu0026#39;t regard the real history of France or Rome as their own, itu0026#39;s a sort of appropriation of French history and geography by a minority (to which I happen to belong by the way) which is okay in my book if it was funny but would have the opposite been accepted? I donu0026#39;t think so.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI donu0026#39;t want to get into that turf but thereu0026#39;s something very unpleasant in that mocking of classic history that makes me wonder how Lhermitte, Darmon or (et tu?) Pierre Richard ended up in this mess.. even Kheiron who strikes me as a comedian worthy enough of our attention not to try to be a poor manu0026#39;s Youn or Debbouze.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e… oh and yes, the film had the guts to end on that cliffhanger, well, let me tell you something, the only thing that should hang over a cliff is any script containing the sequel and who ever holds it should just drop it and say u0026quot;Scriptum delenda estu0026quot;. (yes and that Iu0026#39;m a Latinist made me hate the film even more).”