Jet Set (2000)
Directed by Fabien Onteniente

Film Review

It wasn't until his fourth feature that director Fabien Onteniente struck lucky at the French box office, attracting an audience of just under two million with his outrageous send-up of celebrity culture.  With a strong cast that places rising star Guillaume Gallienne in the company of such established performers as Lambert Wilson and José Garcia, the film certainly wasn't short on mainstream appeal, and if any subject is ripe for no-holds-barred lampooning this is surely it.

Unfortunately, Onteniente is too lightweight and commercially minded a filmmaker to make even a half-decent fist at mining more than a tiny fraction of the film's comedic potential.  So whilst Jet Set has some entertainment value (Wilson's gloriously over-the-top portrayal of a Grade A celebrity twat being particularly memorable) it doesn't really does justice to its subject.  There's not much to commend on either the plot or characterisation fronts - both are lamentable casualties of a script which looks as if it was written in far too great a hurry. 

Onteniente's direction, is as ever, over-confident and crass, with several potentially funny scenes falling hopelessly flat despite the superabundance of comedy grenades scattered all over the set.  Jet Set is just too complacent and superficial, as grimly self-satisfied as its authors, to make the grade as an effective satire, although with the help of a suitably intoxicating beverage, it does have its moments of hilarity.  At least the film is far more tolerable than its misguided follow-up, People (2004), which was enough to turn even the most forgiving of critics into venom-spitting Rottweillers.  Onteniente was on much safer ground with his next film, Camping (2006), the unlikely holiday-themed hit that spawned a seemingly endless string of increasingly inept sequels.

Film Synopsis

Jimmy and Fifi are two friends who are happily running a trendy bar in the suburbs of Paris when disaster strikes.  As the threat of bankruptcy looms ever nearer, Jimmy decides that desperate steps need to be taken.  He has the brainwave of making his modest hostelry a haven for the rich and famous.  Unfortunately, Jimmy has no contacts with the so-called Jet Set, so he turns to his friend Mike to help him out.  By taking on the guise of a Tasmanian prince, Mike gains access to a charity ball where he has ample opportunity to ingratiate himself with the crème de la crème of the showbiz world.

Mike's disguise doesn't fool everyone, however.  One man who is not taken in is the self-styled celebrity Arthus de Poulignac.  Realising that he can have some fun with the faux prince, the latter makes a pretence of playing along with Mike's inept deception.  Before he know it, Mike is well on his way to become a fully paid up member of a very exclusive club, but being in with the jet set is not quite what he had imagined.  What started out as an innocent amusement intended to help a friend in need soon becomes something far more serious.  Mike is about to become acquainted with a basic rule of physics: what goes up must inevitably come down...