Country:
France
Recognizable Faces:
Jean Dujardin
Sylvie Testud
Directed by:
James Huth
American folk might not know him, but Lucky Luke is a legend of the far west. The smooth tempered gunslinger has been delighting children from French Canada, France and Belgium for a few decades. He was one of my regular readings as a kid. After a few terrible adaptations (featuring Terrance Hill), actor extraordinaire Jean Dujardin gave it a shot along with obscuse director James Huth with who he teamed up with in the past for Dujardin's trademark character Brice de Nice's movie
The man that shoot faster than his own shadow is back in real time and mandated by the President of the United States to clean up Daisy Town, Utah before the New York-San Francisco railroad reaches junction over there. Fans of the series will know the place real well as one of the regular venues of the comics. Luke has a world of memories tying him back to this place, which is now ravaged by every scumbag of the Wild-West. It's the biggest of them all, Pat Poker, who's been sucking the town dry lately. The magician/casino owner/economic icon is one of Lucky Luke's oldest and sneakiest nemesis and he's ready for anything to help him trick old Luke into defeat.
Despite having admirably well done in keeping the cartoonish flavor Lucky Luke, James Huth's movie presents a different portrait of the solitary gunslinger. A darker, more humane Luke who reveals more about himself that he ever did in the past. Luke usually sends people in jail without killing them is thrown off his guard when he kills Poker in a duel. He is sent in a period of self-doubt and reconversion to farming, like his father did. The latter has been slayed, along with Luke's mother in a home invasion from the Cheaters gang when Luke was a kid. He was then picked up by Coop, his godfather, who became governor of Utah by the time of the present events.
Jean Dujardin is stellar (as usual) as the charismatic cowboy. He plays Luke with his enough gusto and self-containment to reflect the greatness of the lonesome one. Sylvie Testud, as Calamity Jane, despite looking nothing like the comic book character, shows the same bravado as the wild one. Big ups to Melvil Poupaud who also tore the roof off as Jesse James. Huth's movie is stylish and fun. Lucky Luke is colorful and sprinkled with (not so) subtle references to the real world such as Pat Poker's casino (which looks like a strange, deformed circus funhouse) and the governor's house who spoofs the palace-like comfort of the modern American politicians.
Lucky Luke is a comical relief movie. It's not overly complex , but it's not an even movie. James Huth sometimes trips in the carpet, trying to make references to the comics more than making jokes. That makes for lengths and uneven moments, but as far as I'm concern it's a minor issue. You will not be challenged or roll on the floor but you will spend a food moment with the poor lonesome cowboy, who's a long long way from home.
SCORE: 76%
