Les vacances du petit Nicolas (2014) Reviews

• Little Nick is back

  Horst_In_Translation2014-10-17

  "Les vacances du petit Nicolas" is the sequel to another French movie from 5 years ago. And not a lot has changed. The director is the same and so are the parents to Litte Nick, including the talented and funny Kad Merad. One major change, however, is the lead actor. The child actor who played Nick back then would be too old now, so they recast the part. This film is again based on the stories of René Goscinny, which you should now from his prolific work on the Asterix comics. Fittingly, director Laurent Tirard has also directed a film on the little Gaul in the past. As a whole you could probably classify this film as one of those movies that are worth a watch if you're in for something light, but do not expect too much depth. There is some truly nice scenes like the one near the end, when the little girl looks at Nicolas as their ways are parting. Is it true love? You will find out during the closing credits. Another scene which was nice symbolism was the tractor rolling over the limousine which basically perfectly described the victory of Nicolas' father over the new admirer of his wife. There, I have a criticism also, however. I thought the whole speech of the wife where she belongs was just not suitable and added unnecessary dramatic tension to a film where it did not belong, even if it was well-acted. Other parts I was not too fond of was the whole subplot about him retiring from his job, which was just too predictable to be funny that his boss called him and wants to promote him. Also I did not like how they never touched this topic again afterward. Apart from that, i was not too fond of the whole story that dad's pal thinks his dad is broke and how he finds out etc. What i clearly preferred were those short intermission scenes, the boy at his wedding with the different girls or Grandma burying everybody (a true comedic highlight). Another highlight were these uncountable classic movie references ("Psycho", "The Shining", "Casablanca" and probably many more I overlooked) "Les vacances du petit Nicolas" is a typical French comedy suitable for all ages. If this is your cup of tea, give it a chance. You will not be disappointed.

• holiday taste

  Kirpianuscus2017-02-04

  colors and photography and humor. all from the same spirit of summer holiday. so French than becomes, scene by scene, universal. nothing special. except a form of joy who remains refreshing. because it is a film about childhood essence and about family. about small things, details, cinema industry and good choices. about a form of life , desired by everybody, innocent, seductive, comfortable. beach, room of hotel, meets - few magical. memories about the films by Tati and about similar stories. Valerie Lemercier and Kad Merad doing great job. Luca Zingaretti as seductive director . and eulogy to an unique age and its force of imagination.

• Just a terrible film, whatever your age is

  languedoc-586-8360282015-03-12

  The original Nicolas film, still directed by Laurent Tirard, was cute and funny. Its humour relied upon genuine written material forming consistent scenes and situations, and often based on the child's point-of-view, as in René Goscinny's exquisite little stories. "Les Vacances" relies a lot on nods and references to past cinema, and the rest is either disjointed (loose ends - what happens in the end with the tight spot at the nude beach Nicolas' father gets himself into?...) or simply unlikely. Even though the excellent Valérie Lemercier and Kad Merad still play Nicolas' parents, the actors in general, save for Bouli Lanners as Bernique, are insincere in their delivery and reactions and/or poorly directed. The father is supposed to be heartbroken by his wife extending her stay without him at the crazy big-money party, yet his face remains almost expressionless all the while... Also, one scene suggests that hurting severely a live animal can be perceived as humorous, which I have found particularly tasteless.

• Enjoy everything

  carlesmiquel2015-02-05

  I can say, for sure, as all of Goscinny's work, this film will delight kids and grown-ups alike. For children, there's a lot going on for Nicolas and his family during a vacation moved from the mountains to the sea. But for all of us who like light-spirited films as deep ones, this one breaks barriers seldom seen in recent times. If you want to be thrilled by technical issues that will not scream "I'm here" during your first watch, please, watch it again! They designed this film with much more detail than even Goscinny's stories when they were depicted in its time. Color is of the essence. And here, designers got their hands on it as if it was the end of the world. It's stunning, to say the least, the use of color and textures to make this film a truly memorable feat of design. Photography, on the other end, is superb. The night scenes are beautiful and luscious. The time-warp costumes and color matching of absolutely everything helps a lot in telling the story. And to cap it all, the cars are all of the era, and not just "period" cars. They chose a line-up of beautiful museum quality, colorful and perfectly matching cars with specs for the time-frame of the film. If you love the Facel-Vega, Citroën, Peugeot, Renault, Simca... you're in for a treat. Watch the kids! Watch dad and mom and granny! They are great. Of course, there may be some flaws, but I see them as part of a funny, uplifting, absurd and very very French film. What cinema should always be: entertaining and beautiful, no matter the subject.

• Nowhere near as good as Le Petit Nicolas

  LaChatteNoire2015-05-12

  The director made the mistake of putting too much humor way too often. The end-result: most of the humor wasn't funny at all. In comparison, its prequel did not have humor as frequently, which allowed the plot to develop better and made it a much more memorable movie. I really wish this one had been more like its prequel. However, I'd love a sequel. Three reasons: 1. The first movie was awesome. 2. It was a great opportunity to learn French. 3. When I watched it for the second time without English subtitles it was much more enjoyable, maybe because of my limited knowledge of French. Nicholas's mom and dad were enacted by the same actors that'd enacted them in the first movie, which was great. Most other characters were enacted by new actors and were boring, except for Nicholas's grandmother and Nicholas himself -- they were great. But then there were characters who weren't that great. For example, one of Nicholas's friends was a boy who ate everything, including crabs, frogs and things that live inside seashells -- and they showed him eating these things -- not funny! As a native speaker of English, I liked that they included Djodjo (an English boy) in the movie. Unfortunately, unlike in the book, stories or the TV episode he did not speak any English, which I was hoping he would. I heard one English word throughout the movie. Of course there's no reason for me to expect to hear English in a French movie, but my hopes were quite high. No, I do not recommend watching this movie. It was a box office flop (which means it earned less money than what went behind making it). It earned a fifth as much money as Little Nicholas, but it took more to make it. You won't like it, not if you're a child, and especially not if you're an adult.