Fall of the American Empire (The)
Original Title
La Chute de l'empire Américain- Director: Denys Arcand
- Writer: Denys Arcand
- Producer: Denise Robert; Dominique Besnehard; Patrick Roy; Victor Loewy
CGiii Comment
The Canadian master-filmmaker...does it again! No, it's not a sequel to Mr Arcand's similarly entitled [brilliantly poisonous] The Decline of the American Empire - still, the obvious [titular] dig at his next-door-neighbour is more than just a slap-in-the-face!
There's nothing quite like drilling home your message via sarcasm and wit, Mr Arcand does not - in the slightest - hold back. This is crime-caper done to perfection...with an added [blistering] social commentary. The crux of the film is a moral issue...akin to Robin Hood...stealing from thieves for the greater good of the community. Then...there's an unbridled assault on education and intellectualism: Intelligence is a handicap!
What makes this all work is Alexandre Landry's ultra-charismatic performance...he's a delivery-man with a PhD, a bit of a geek, who falls for an exorbitant escort...while being chased by hardcore, torture-weilding criminals and harassed by a duo of police officers...who are contending with a few sexual issues, she had him, he wants her, she's switched teams!
Messieurs Landry et Arcand take everything in their stride...the pace is furious, the 2 hours zip by...indeed, the Canadian master-filmmaker...has done it again!
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
A shy and insecure delivery truck driver accidentally arrives on the scene of a major crime and happens to pick up two bags of cash and hides them in his truck. Though an interrogation of two tough police detectives isn't enough, the guy, who has a doctor's degree in philosophy which makes his mind mingle with remorse, must find a way to get rid of this dirty money. Only the help of a prostitute and a former biker who came out of jail might get him out of trouble, especially that a gang leader is very weary to get his cash back or kill whoever is responsible for this mess. However, even the two bumbling detectives are monitoring the case as well.
Cast & Characters
Maxim Roy as Carla McDuff;
Eric Bruneau as L'enqueteur Plamondon;
Maripier Morin as Aspasie/Camille Lafontaine;
Vincent Leclerc as Jean-Claude;
Juliette Gosselin as La femme medecin residente;
Rose-Marie Perreault as Natasha;
Alexandre Landry as Pierre-Paul Daoust;
Claude Legault as L'informateur de la police;
Remy Girard as Sylvain 'The Brain' Bigras;
Catherine Paquin-Bechard as Gemma;
Pierre Curzi as Maitre Wilbrod Taschereau;
Yan England as Jimmy;
Ayana O'Shun as Madame Rosabert - la mere de Jacmel;
Benoit Briere as Joseph;
Florence Longpre as Linda Demers;
Louis Morissette as Pete La Bauve;
Paul Doucet as Le docteur Pierre-Yves Maranda - le radiologiste;
Denis Bouchard as Gilles Sainte-Marie - le sous-ministre;
Gaston Lepage as Marcel;
Genevieve Schmidt