With some movies, I go from zero anticipation to 100% rapt attention in a matter of minutes because it turns out to be so totally what I didn't expect.
For example: MR. AVERAGE (Indican Pictures, 2006) isn't the goofy comedy I thought it would be from the poster art, but turns out to be an intriguing comedy/drama that had me eagerly watching to see what would happen next.
The basic set-up occurs in the first minutes as likable schlub Kalil (Khalid Maadour) becomes the grand champion of a glitzy game show where you must supply the most average answers (as determined by poll results) to a variety of questions.
Kalil not only proves himself the quintessential Mr. Average, but becomes a popular national icon of ordinary-ness while doing so.
The catch? Now his apartment is full of hidden cameras and his new girlfriend, Claire (Caroline Dhavernas), works for the show, whose producers are testing Kalil's reactions to various products, pop culture notions, etc. and selling the information to whatever interested parties may profit from it.
That alone is dodgy enough, but when the President of France hires Kalil's secret handlers to use Kalil to help win the next election by monitoring his political opinions, even fake-girlfriend Claire starts to worry that the whole sleazy enterprise is getting out of control.
And that's just for starters. Not content to stretch and pad the premise thus far into feature running time, MR. AVERAGE basks in the exploration of every scintillating consequence of Kalil's situation, be it social, political, or romantic (his relationship with Claire gets warped, shattered, and stuck back together wrong).
Not only that, but we get to watch Kalil reclaim control of his life in fascinating ways that not only increase his notoriety many times over but begin to have an even greater influence on not only popular culture but the fabric of society itself.
Through it all, Khalid Maadour plays Kalil with the perfect combination of self-effacing humility and a burgeoning confidence that allows us to root for him whether putting his life back together in profitable ways or clumsily trying to charm his way back into Claire's affection (and as appealingly played by Caroline Dhavernas, we can't blame him).
Director and co-writer Pierre-Paul Renders smartly handles the story's comedic and suspenseful qualities while giving everything a breezily eye-pleasing visual appeal. The film never bogs down or takes itself too seriously, juggling all its various moods to a tee.
At any juncture during its unpredictable story, MR. AVERAGE could've gone wrong in any number of ways. Which is why it's so much fun watching it all go so right. It's a film that's just as humble and likable as the protagonist, and its choices are just as spot on.
More information at Indican Pictures
TECH SPECS
Running Time: 90 minutes
Format: 1:78 Anamorphic
Sound: Dolby SR
Rating: Pending
Genre: Comedy, Foreign
Language: French
Subtitles: English
Country: France
Bonus: Making-of featurette, trailers
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