Comme les cinq doigts de la main (2010)
Directed by Alexandre Arcady

Film Review

Once again, Alexandre Arcady assembles a cast of exceptional calibre and subjects them to a ritual that is only marginally less degrading and humiliating than that exhibited in such reality TV abominations as I'm A (supposed) Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.  Not content with rolling out his usual skip-load of racially-offensive clichés, Arcady now jumps onto the Islamaphobia bandwagon and resorts to the kind of grotesque caricature that would shame a third rate stand-up comic sired by Jean-Marie Le Pen.  Arcady's inability to come up with an original and intelligent script apparently hasn't derailed his career yet (in spite of some near misses with Entre chiens et loups (2002) and Tu peux garder un secret? (2008)) but this latest mass of recycled nonsense can only erode the little credibility he has somehow managed to hold onto.

The mise-en-scène is slightly more inspired than the writing, but even here Arcady appears to be mired in ridiculously dated clichés.  Even Patrick Bruel, who brought class to Arcady's earlier thrillers L'Union sacrée (1989) and K (1997), fails to shine in this derivative disaster. If Comme les cinq doigts were directed by a first-time filmmaker it might be possible to make some allowance for its numerous failings.  The fact that it was made by someone with over thirty years of filmmaking experience makes it pretty well unforgivable.  Shallow characters who can only communicate via trite platitudes, a hackneyed plot that has even less sophistication than your average Tom and Jerry cartoon...   Here is a film that has absolutely no redeeming features.

Film Synopsis

After the fateful day when her husband was murdered Suzie Hayoun was forced to bring up her five sons by herself.  The one thing she managed to drill into them was the importance of solidarity.  Three of the five have grown up to follow respectable trades.  Dan, the eldest, manages a restaurant, Jonathan is a pharmacist and Julien a school teacher.  Michel, the youngest, fritters away his days by gambling.  David parted company with the rest many years ago, but now he is back, badly wounded and hunted by both the police and a criminal gang led by Samy Boban.  David may be the black sheep of the family but his brothers are bound to come to his aid and thwart his adversaries.  The time has come for the Hayoun clan to avenge the death of their father...