Mauvais esprit (2003)
Directed by Patrick Alessandrin

Film Review

One-time assistant to Luc Besson, Patrick Alessandrin has since made at least two fairly respectable films 15 août (2001) and Banlieue 13 - Ultimatum (2009), but he hit rock bottom with his third feature Mauvais Esprit, which probably rates as the daftest French comedy ever. The fact that the film managed to attract an audience of one million is probably more a reflection of the appalling lack of taste of the French cinema-going public these days than of the quality of the film.

The film has one single idea which it mines to exhaustion - a fully grown adult trapped in the body of a newborn baby. It's an idea that has some humour value for a few minutes, but after five minutes the novelty ran has well and truly evaporated - and there's another gruelling 85 minutes to go. Things aren't helped by the endless torrent of chauvenistic, racist and homophobic references, spoken by characters who cannot open their mouths without uttering the word 'putain' (the French equivalent of the 'F word'). And then we are invited to laugh at Thierry Lhermitte changing an industrially soiled nappy (not nice if you happen to be eating a bar of chocolate at the time). How can anyone even imagine that this has any entertainment value? From that point on, the film's authors have clearly run out of ideas and so fall back on that good old fashioned standby of fart, vomit and burb gags, while the plot (if you can call it that) just goes absolutely nowhere. This has to be the absolute nadir of French so-called comedy.

Film Synopsis

Failed architect Simon Variot confronts unscrupulous businessman Vincent Porel, accusing him of stealing his design for a state-of-the-art building.  Minutes later, Simon is dead, run over by Porel, who is distracted by the imminent birth of his son.  Simon is surprised to find himself reincarnated, as the baby son of the man who killed him.  Monsieur Porel's life is about to become Hell as Simon seizes every opportunity that his new life presents to take his revenge…