Nicolas Cuche’s Spoiled Brats aka Pourris gâtés is Netflix’s new French release and even though it isn’t as good as the OTT’s last French comedy Stuck Together, it does a decent job in standing out as a quick and quirky watch. The film is written by Gary Alazraki, Patricio Saiz and Laurent Turner and co-produced by Alazraki, Laurent Baudens, Guido Rud and Leonardo Zimbron. It stars a worthy cast that includes Artus as Philippe Bartek, Camille Lou as Stella, Louka Meliava as Alexandre, Gérard Jugnot as Francis, François Morel as Ferrucio, Joffrey Verbruggen as Matthias and Tom Leeb as Juan Carlos. The runtime for Spoiled Brats is somewhere around 1 hour 30 minutes.
– Netflix’s Spoiled Brats review does not contain spoilers –
Spoiled Brats: Funny and Unfunny
The film is set against the backdrop of Monaco the story revolves around the Bartek family which includes patriarch Francis Bartek and his three incorrigibly spoiled children- Philippe, Stella and Alexandre, who are running loose with their father’s money. Uptight, lazy and absolutely dumb, the children not only don’t respect their father’s decisions but, also go against them to prove a point. All of this brings Francis to a point where he conjures an idea to teach his children a lesson to taste life.
Helped by Ferrucio, Francis stages a plan and traps his children into thinking that their money has been embezzled leaving them penniless and in the hands of law to be taken as prisoners. As the family settles down in Marseille after fleeing Monaco in a peculiarly funny manner and Francis urges the children to stand up on their feet to earn money. Initially, distorted by the event and setting, the kids slowly start to get a slice of everyday life and how hardships are laid on the way to earn a living. However, when the plan leaks out, it is hard to keep the vultures away from feasting on Francis’ weakness- his children.
Spoiled Brats touches on an important lesson of dignity and the importance of labour but, even after being a comedy, it fails to make you laugh in most places. The actors are well versed in their roles and they try their best to bring the best, but the lack of depth and the rush in the script makes you feel underwhelmed about this heartfelt comedy. The characters are introduced in a jiffy. So much so that it is hard to understand Alexandre’s approach and perspective about life until a good half of the film has gone by. The villain is short-lived and is stoically unfunny in the funny scenes.
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Camille Lou, Artus and Gérard Jugnot really stand out in their moments. Lou and Jugnot provide the emotional edge to the story whereas Artus is just downright funny starting from stupid business ideas to cycling a tuk-tuk. As it is the remake of the 2013 film The Noble Family, the element of surprise and anticipation was lost somewhere. However, the scenes with all the children and their father bonding or arguing are pretty much the best ones in the film.
Spoiled Brats: Final Verdict
Spoiled Brats is enjoyable if you are not looking for anything specific but, just want to invest yourself in a one-and-a-half-hour watch. It is truly mediocre by French standards and is a compilation of almost all the cliches ever. At times it is abrupt but, other times it is smooth and touching.
You can watch the French comedy Spoiled Brats aka Pourris gâtés now on Netflix.
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