Un homme à la hauteur (2016) – Review

At which point did our society change? In the nineties we were talking about it being a melting pot of cultures, something we were proud of. When did it became a reality that we focussed more and more on our differences? A focus which has made it “not done” to make jokes about each other and where each small remark is immediately approached negatively? Whether you like it or not, it is something which influences you as well and also makes you over sensitive which I think is a shame because it means that the love which first made us blind has slowly disappeared.

In Un Homme à la Hauteur Diane (Virginie Efira) is called at home by a man she doesn’t know. He tells her he has found her phone and during their conversation he is extremely curious about her and even flirts. He proposes to meet up at a restaurant to give back the phone, but also spend some time together to get to know each other better. Diane, who is divorced but is still fighting with her ex (because she has a law firm with him), decides to be adventurous and agrees. When she meets the man, Alexandre (Jean Dujardin), for the first time she is surprised. As she is sitting down and he is standing, she can look him straight into his eyes. She is shocked to learn about his length, but Alexandre has so much charm that he convinces her to go with him to do something she has never done before. It is the start of a romance, where their differece in height brings along some issues.

 Jean Dujardin is the right actor to play a charming guy, but because he actually isn’t 1,38m the movie constantly has to use trick shot in order to make him look smaller. A movie like Lord of the Rings did so successfully, but here it often feel unnatural. In wide shots Alexandre is a lot smaller, but during the closeups he suddenly seems bigger again. It makes you wonder why they didn’t just cast a person who meets the requirements of the character.

As a romantic comedy this movie doesn’t offer many surprises. The supporting characters, like Diane’s assitant feel so written that they will quickly get on your nerves. The jokes about how Alexandre’s length wear thing long before the end of the film as it is used as the only source of jokes. As society is changing you get the feeling that you can’t make the jokes they make here anymore. Un Homme à la Hauteur feels too much like a one note movie which doesn’t succeed in taking the material and making it something bigger than its parts.