Here Jean-Pierre Jeunet caricatures his fixation on Rube Goldbergian mechanical devices, creating a wondrously dull cinematic exercise in futility.
Jeunet switches from the romanticism of "Amelie" to a hammy attempt at political satire involving government-endorsed arms deals. Danny Boon plays Bazil, an unlucky video store clerk whose parents got killed by a landmine in the Moroccan desert.
Years later Bazil gets hit by a stray bullet that lodges inside his head.
Carrying a heavy grudge for the munitions manufacturer responsible for these personal tragedies, Bazil teams up with a quirky underground group of junk dealers overseen by Yolande Moreau's Mama Chow.
Bazil is smitten with Elastic Girl (Julie Ferrier), the gang's resident contortionist, and the team set out to destroy the evil munitions company and punish its dubious functionaries.
More a sloppy assemblage of comic set pieces than a composed narrative, "Micmacs" is disappointing to the point of distraction.
With this level of cartoonish creation, the film would've worked better had it been animated. But it still wouldn't be funny or dramatically satisfying.
Rated R. 105 mins.
