The Fall of the American Empire (2018) User Reviews

Nice!

[FrenchEddieFelson · 7/10 · 24 February 2019]

Funny, sarcastic and ... that's rare!... benevolent. To be seen only with the adorable accent of Quebec.

Denys Arcand's latest opus is worth checking out

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 22 July 2019]

"The Fall of the American Empire" (2018 release from Quebec) brings the story of Pierre-Paul, a 30-something delivery guy. As the movie opens, Pierre-Paul and his girlfriend are in a discussion over a cup of coffee, eventually leading to their breakup. During Pierre-Paul's round of delivering packages (think UPS), he comes at the wrong spot at the wrong time: a heist is happening, and in the process there is a shoot-out and 2 dead bodies and... 2 large bags of cash, just sitting there. At a whim, Pierre-Paul grabs the bags and takes off... Will Pierre-Paul decide to keep the money? or spend it? can anyone track him down? At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest film of Canadian writer-director Debys Arcand. The title of this movie immediately reminds us of Arcand's mid-80s film "The Decline of the American Empire", and in fact thematically there certainly are similar themes, but to be clear, "The Fall" is not a direct sequel to "The Decline". As to "the Fall", it starts out as a "what will Pierre-Paul do" movie, but about midway through the film, Arcand branches out and makes it also into a fiercely social commentary on today's society of immense inequality (economic and otherwise). There are wonderful acting performances throughout, including Alexandre Landry as well as the stunningly beautiful Maripier Morin (in her first acting performance). Please note that all of the performances are in full-fledged French-Quebecois accent (distinctly different from the 'regular' French that I grew up with in Europe--Belgium in particular).

"The Fall of the American Empire" was released in Canada over a year ago and finally made it to my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, yes more than a year later. Better late than never. The Saturday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay (about 15 people), but sill I can't see this playing very long in theaters. For that the movie is frankly too quirky. That said, I quite enjoyed it and if you are in the mood for a foreign crime-with-social message caper, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

A sarcastic and real portrait of the society

[chiaragiacobelli · 8/10 · 29 April 2019]

I went to watch this movie at the cinema sure that it was nothing special, but I hade to change my idea. The story of this weird and intelligent boy, who unexpectedly finds two bags full of money, is funny but also full of positive feelings and intents. The movie shows at the same time the worst and the best of our society, without forgetting a love story, friendship and charity. I think it is definitely a movie to watch.

stealing from criminals

[ferguson-6 · 6/10 · 21 June 2019]

French-Canadian filmmaker Denys Arcand won the Best Foreign Language Oscar for THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS (2003), and has gained a very loyal group of followers for his films. It should be noted that, despite the title, this is not a sequel or prequel to Arcand's 1986 film THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE. This one is a comedy-crime drama that is as cynical as it is witty, and perhaps as much social commentary as satire. It's yet another rip on capitalism while showing that idealism can work wonders (at least if it's well funded). "Intelligence is a handicap." That's what Pierre-Paul Daoust (played by Alexandre Landry) tells his girlfriend as he breaks up with her in a café. When she points out that he's a delivery driver (similar to UPS), Pierre-Paul riffs on a number of famous writers and philosophers who he claims were dumb as rocks. Her inquiry into Trump being elected President leads to his conclusion, "imbeciles worship cretins". He is the kind of guy that has an answer for everything, and possesses a type of oratory expertise that makes his excuses sound like scientific explanations.

One day while on his route, he stumbles into a robbery gone way wrong. Two thieves were in the process of stealing gang/mob money (and lots of it) when a shooting broke out. In the immediate aftermath, Pierre-Paul makes the snap decision to toss the two huge bags of cash into the back of his deliver truck and take off. This kicks off a chain of events that includes his crossing paths with Aspasie/Camille (Maripier Morin) a high dollar escort whose website features a quote from "Racine". Pierre-Paul is a Ph.D. in Philosophy, so he takes this as a sign.

Shortly after, Pierre-Paul is meeting with Sylvain "the brain" (Arcand regular Remy Girard), a recently released from prison biker who has become an expert on money laundering. The three form an odd partnership and are followed wherever they go by a couple of police detectives. Camille introduces Sylvain and Pierre-Paul to Mr. Taschereau (Pierre Curzi), her dapper former lover who also happens to be the foremost authority on international tax evasion and high finance.

The running joke here is that Pierre-Paul is an upright citizen who has never done anything remotely illegal in his life. In fact, he regularly doles out money to Quebec's homeless and those down on their luck. He also volunteers regularly at a shelter that feeds those in need. The obvious statement here is pointing out the great divide between the wealthy and the poor.

Arcand's film is close to being very good, but falls short in too many areas to reach the height it desires. There is a torture scene that seems totally out of place compared to the tone of the rest of the film, and I refuse to make the link to PRETTY WOMAN - another film where the rich guy wins over the good-hearted sex worker. This film talks about "providence" and just rewards that rarely happen. Is it acceptable to do the wrong thing for the right reasons? Does doing good correct a wrong? Heck, is it even wrong to steal from criminals? What the film actually does is serve up obvious targets with no real solutions offered. The self-congratulatory ending with close-up shots of Quebec's homeless doesn't help.

It is clear who is the victim of capitalist society, but who is the culprit?

[frankde-jong · 6/10 · 13 May 2021]

"The fall of the American empire" begins just like "No country for old men" (2007, Joel & Ethan Coen), a casual passer by takes possession of the loot of a crime that has horribly gone wrong.

The rest of the film however is quite different. A team consisting of a nerd (Pierre Paul Daoust played by Alexandre Landry), a prostitute (Camille Lafontaine played by Maripier Morin) and an ex criminal (Sylvain Bigras played by Rémy Girard) set up an ingenious money laundring scheme to help the homeless people of Montreal.

The nerd is not a "computer nerd" but a "philosophy nerd". At the start of the film he has an awkward conversation with his girl friend, framing Pierre Paul as rather autistic. His relatively smooth interaction with homeless people later in the movie is somewhat at odds with this first impression.

"The fall of the American empire" is obviously not realistic, and that is no problem. The film is a sort of modern Robin Hood and also a "Pretty woman" (1990, Garry Marshall) in reverse, although I am still puzzling what "in reverse" really means. Does it mean that in this case the woman (Camille) is transforming the man (Pierre Paul) and making him less naive? Or does it mean that the man still is transforming the woman but introduces her from the high society (Camille is a very expensive call girl before she meets Pierre Paul) to the low society in stead of the other way round?

The weak spot of the film is its social critism. It is clear that the director sympathizes with the homeless and that they are the victims of capitalist society. But the question is who is the culprit? In recent films of Ken Loach (of the same generation as Denys Arcand) this question is clearly answered. In "I Daniel Blake" (2016) it is the government bureacracy and in "Sorry we missed you" (2019) it is the principal of the self employed person. In "The fall of the American empire" it seems to be the capital market in general, but this is too vague and too impersonal. When you want to tell a story about the perversions of the capital market "The big short" (2015, Adam McKay) does a better job.

Surprisingly Relevant !!!

[andyhain · 1 August 2019]

Wow! Starts out like just another crime caper, but develops into one of the most serious movies ever... Almost life-changing!

the fall of the Canadian empire

[dromasca · 7/10 · 15 January 2020]

Denys Arcand is known for some memorable films, in which the sparkling dialogue of his characters either intellectuals or belonging to the higher social classes is an important part of the style and of the substance. The hero in 'La chute de l'empire americain' ('The Fall of the American Empire') belongs to the same category - he is a young PhD in philosophy who works as a 'delivery boy' for a courier company. His interaction with the world, including with the women in his life, often takes place through dialogues full of precious thoughts and quotes from famous philosophers and writers. The film is kind of a closure to a trilogy started in 1986, with one film made at about each 16 years one from the another. Here our hero accidentally witnesses a burglary ending with gunshots, corpses and two bags full of money in his possession. As we know from other films, a large amount of money left behind and coveted by gangsters can be a problem in life rather than a blessing. This is where this movie begins, this is the pretext of a story that could easily be placed in the category of comic action thrillers, if Arcand had not tried to say something more about the morals and mechanisms of the world we live in.

The movie poster is quite mis-leading. The Statue of Liberty appears on it, but the movie is not about the United States. The story takes place in Montreal and French connoisseurs who have the chance to see the movie in original version can enjoy a copious portion of the delicious 'Quebecois' flavor. The directorial approach is also very Canadian, relaxed and detached, and if we want to watch this film as a romantic comedy sprinkled with robberies, scams and gangsters, some mean, some philosophers, we can enjoy ourselves quite well. What contributes to the pleasure is the story that flows fluently and which reserves enough surprises and twists, as well as the charm of the lead actor Alexandre Landry and of his superb partner, Maripier Morin, who is at her first feature film but has all the qualities to become a 'Bond girl' of the future.

Denys Arcand however intended to say more with this movie. The social and moral commentary is elegant, but clear. None of his characters is a 100% good guy or good gal - not even the main hero, the stressed economic, social, personal philosopher, the young man deeply involved in charity actions who never forgets to sneak a few pennies into the beggars' hands. Neither are the policemen, nor the gangsters, nor of course the tax advisers. Is our society (Canadian, American, or from any corner of the capitalist world) far too corrupt for even the most honest citizen of the planet not to have to resort to lesser or greater crimes to achieve happiness? Does the noble purpose (helping those in need) excuse the (criminal) means? Is it really acceptable to steal from thieves, as the saying, probably valid in many languages of the earth, goes? Denys Arcand seems to have an opinion, but for the viewers these just questions, maybe the beginning of a discussion. Not even the images of the oppressed in life screened before the credits cannot, I believe, convince all the spectators of this film of the seemingly anti-moral thesis of the director. Or maybe, as the main character explained in one of his uninvited dissertations, what ultimately matters is what the heart tells us, not what the intellect dictates. The less we take it seriously, the more we can enjoy this movie.

deliciously amoral

[Henry_Seggerman · 8/10 · 4 May 2020]

I loved this story of a way over-educated nerd who's filled with Marxist claptrap making a conscious decision to steal bagfuls of cash. Typical of Arcand, the film is very talky, but in a dry and deadpan way that is quite amusing. It's a funny version of Dostoevsky by way of Godard and Woody Allen.

An overall worthwhile film with major dialogue issues

[plpregent · 6/10 · 18 November 2019]

Despite what its title may appear to indicate, Denys Arcand's latest opus, « La chute de l'empire américain », is not the third chapter in a trilogy that would include "Le déclin de l'empire américain" and "Les invasions barbares". It is a film that bears glimpses of the thriller and comedy genres but that, ultimately, is an unapologetic vehicle for social commentary, tackling the very under-explored subject of tax evasion.

The film tells the story of Pierre-Paul, an intellectual young man with both a PhD in philosophy and a heart of gold, who works for a delivery company and frequently volunteers at local community organizations that help the homeless. While he is on the job delivering a parcel, he witnesses a hold up where a significant amount of money gets stolen from a boutique and where everyone involved, but one man, gets shot to death in the process. Stuck in the middle of that crime scene with dead bodies and two bags filled with cash, he decides to take the money and hide it in his truck before the police arrives. He ends up leaving with the money, and teaming up with a luxury escort and an ex-convict who specializes in tax evasion to come up with a money-laundering scheme that bears more similarities with a modern-day Robin Hood tale than anything else.

I thought the film had quite an interesting premise, which was definitely reminiscent of one of my favourite films, "No Country for Old Men". That being said, that's the only thing both films have in common, as "No Country for Old Men" had this obvious classic main theme about the lure of profit and the price that people are willing to pay for it. It also tackled multiple sub-themes with great, powerful subtlety that elevated the film to a whole other level. The use that "La chute de l'empire américain" makes of this premise mostly fuels some of its sub-plots, which bring a thriller aspect to the story in which, oddly enough, the main characters never get directly involved. So, in that regard, the criminal underworld and Pierre-Paul's universe never clash, with the latter remaining in a relatively safe space where the only threat is a police investigation, leaving plenty of space (or runtime) for philosophical speeches and a somewhat preachy and pompous charge against tax evasion that is pervasively (and a bit annoyingly) disseminated in quite pontificating fashion through dialogue that seriously lacks subtlety and often times, fluidity.

The opening scene, which introduces the audience to the protagonist, really exposes this issue from the get-go: We meet Pierre-Paul as he explains to his soon to be ex-girlfriend that his intelligence, in today's society, is a handicap. As he successively spews pompous quotes from different philosophers (and makes sure to name them in the process) to get his point across, while the girlfriend in question remains speechless for the most part, you get a feeling that Pierre-Paul's character was supposed to look incredibly smart, but instead sounds socially awkward and more pretentious than anything else.

That being said, that doesn't make the film unwatchable, as there are many other aspects that make it worthwhile. First, the cast does a very good job despite the deficiencies in their characters' dialogue. Alexandre Landry, as Pierre-Paul, manages to give his character an overall awkwardness that brings credibility to his delivery of dialogue that would have otherwise sounded very unnatural. He also makes Pierre-Paul feel like a genuinely good person with the best intentions. Maripier Morin got her first acting gig in this film, and really exceeded everyone's expectations, as she more than competently impersonates a luxury escort who, against all odds, ends up falling for Pierre-Paul. Rémi Girard, Maxim Roy and Louis Morissette each offer quite entertaining performances, but the standout, in my view, was Pierre Curzi, who plays a wealthy tax attorney. They gave him the perfect look, with the slicked back grey hair, the blue suit and the Christine Lagarde tan. And his performance is absolutely on point, as he's got a glacial look in his eyes, and an imperturbable calmness that is certainly reminiscent of a few bankers that appeared at U. S. senate hearings after the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

Also, what Arcand lacks in writing prowess when it comes to dialogue, he makes up for with his ability as a director. The direction in "La chute de l'empire américain" is one of the film's stronger points, and without it, this could have been a painful film to watch. It takes a while to see where this film is going, as screen time is initially shared in equal parts between many sub-plots, some of which are quite dynamic: the injured survivor of the shootout seeking shelter, criminals looking for the stolen money, the police investigation, the ex-convict choosing whether or not he wants to help Pierre-Paul, the love story between Pierre-Paul and the escort, etc. It is unfortunate, however, that many of those settle themselves without ever being blended into the story to an extent that would have allowed them to be exploited to their full potential, prematurely leaving all the screen time to a main plot that heavily relies on clumsily written dialogue to deliver its social commentary and whose denouement will feel a bit naive to anyone who does not believe in fairy tales. That being said, the film is not without its creative, clever and funny moments, and manages to maintain a pace that keeps the audience interested.

Overall, this is a mixed bag that shows early signs of deficiencies in its delivery of social commentary, but that remains entertaining for as long as it keeps its sub-plots alive. While I sincerely appreciated that someone finally made an attempt at tackling the subject of tax evasion with the best of intentions, when the film fully enters social commentary delivery mode, it unfortunately exposes its own flaws way too visibly, despite being supported by a great cast that mostly appeases the harm, but that can only work around the lack of subtlety and the preachy aspect of the writing. Its qualities, however, make it worth watching nonetheless.

Pure Denys Arcand

[accerules · 9/10 · 11 July 2018]

If you liked what Denys Arcand did before you should like this movie. So first of all, I'm not a fan of the title, because it might hint that's it's a sequel to the "Déclin" which it is not. (Although Girard and Curzie play in both movies, but it's not the same characters.) They should have kept the original title "Triumph of Money". You will find in this movie very good dialogues, good action and a feel good sentiment at the end. There is a lot of cameos from various Quebec actors. Landry delivers a strong performance, his character, a very intelligent but naive man who seems to despise the world but who's always trying to help the poor and the disenfranchised. Morin is surprisingly good especially since I think it's her first role (and she's wonderfully pretty). Girard, who plays a biker that just got out of jail, is good as usual, (although I felt that some lines could have been from "Les Bougons") and of course I loved Curzie who's playing a crooked investment advisor. Personally, I think it might be my favorite Arcand so far. "Le Déclin" was funnier though. I strongly recommend this movie!

A DRAMAEDY WITH PHILOSOPHY, CRIMINOLOGY + ACTIVISM?

[babyjaguar · 6/10 · 14 June 2019]

Denys Arcand's "The Fall of the American Empire (La chute de l'empire américain)" with good intentions tries to explore the blue-collar class within a larger context of political corruption and economy distribution. As a love story it has charm, witty but good romantic dialogue between the main actors: Alexandre Landry as Pierre-Paul Daoust and Maripier Morin (Canada's Reality TV sta) as Aspasie/Camille Lafontaine.

Their good acting and chemistry carried out this 2 hour film, alongside supporting cast portraying corrupted police, thugs and politicians. But what was feels quite uneasy the film's references to oppression, via Montreal's homelessness and "first nations" Inuit people. Although, it making connections to the philosophy spewed by Landry's character (representing the blue-collar heroe, almost the film's consciousness), it falls weak.

At times within the films it shows Intuit people homeless in the streets with close-up facial shots, it displays them as a nameless and voiceless group. One can admire its artistic device, but it feel very patronizing. Then another element is all the maim characters are played by white Canadians, only a few people of color in the supporting cast playing typecast characters.

As a love story it works brilliantly but as a film exploring social themes and it gets muddied

Arcand is back on track.

[stephbearca · 8/10 · 28 June 2018]

The last Arcand's movie "Le règle de la beauté" (An Eye for Beauty) was a big disappointment from the man who gave us Decline of the American Empire, The Barbarian Invasions who won an Oscar, and Jesus of Montreal. In the first 5 minutes of the opening, you can feel that this will be good. Arcand is at his best when he has those witty dialogues. Sarcastic, just like he was in his best movies. The best guess of Arcand was to use Maripier Morin, whose is not an actress but a girl who started in reality TV shows. Well, she's good. With the right director and some talent, you can be good. She plays a high-class hooker, not in the typical way we usually see that role, but for her first major role, it's impressing. Alexandre Landry, the guy who ends up with the stollen money is a very good actor, hope we'd see him more often. The love interest between those two could be more convincing, this is the only problem with that script, hard to understand why she'd fall for him. Would have needed a few extra scenes to make it more believable. If you like Arcand's dialogue and criticism of the American Society, you will smile for 2 hours.

American Empire? What?

[lakings97 · 7/10 · 27 October 2023]

The Fall of the American Empire is a French language Canadian based movie about a delivery man being in the wrong place at the right time. Alexandre Landry played a well educated, shy delivery man who stumbles upon a robbery gone wrong at the beginning of the film. Landry spends the rest of the movie to try cover his ass from taking two bags full of money with the help of a professional escort played by Maripier Morin and a former biker gang leader played by are my Gerard. Somehow they deceive the local officials from finding their loot and plan to move the funds into various charities around the world with the help of Mr. Taschereau played by Pierre Curzi who is a high level financial advisor. It was a good movie but I don't understand why the title refers to the American Empire. Shouldn't it be Canadian since it was made in a Quebec province? I would recommend watching it once, not a movie I would watch again.

Promising Base Materials, Lacking Imagination

[MeadtheMan · 4/10 · 21 July 2021]

One general way to describe this film is that it's more like a series of sketches than a feature film. Each scene - from dining scene to intimate scene to hospital scene - is overly simplistic and gratuitous, without any memorable detail or cinematic/narrative angle, it's like showing someone a series of generic postcards, but there's no chance/motivation for the viewers to be engrossed in them.

Some scenes are not that believable - such as police barging in a shooting scene without taking any precautionary steps, then simply letting sole witness go after asking some silly questions - and as it's not too clear what the intention of the film is (is it a comedy? A drama? A parody?), we don't know what to make of them. The film seems to be going for some kind of dry irony, if that's the case, the sense of irony needs more development because it's only consistent in the characters of the police officers (Pete and Carla).

The script could also be more fully flushed out. Oftentimes many ideas and names are dropped, but there's no attempt to tie the loose ends. Take the opening scene for instance, there are so many great materials and it could have been one of the best opening scenes. Instead, Pierre-Paul just name-drops intellectuals without connecting them in a cohesive flow, so we feel like just reading someone's SMS. There are a lot of commentaries on our contemporary world which deserve some scrutiny, but often they're just mentioned perfunctorily, in a general, one-liner manner. As a result, one would get more emotional by reading an in-depth financial exposé about our flawed financial system than watching this film.

The half-hearted soundtrack doesn't help either.

The representation of some folks is also problematic. Criminals, dodgy business dealers in Chinatown, gang members, etc are all not from the majority community of the province. Also, the finance professor? A suave guy in douchey suits talking about gossipy tax stories in front of a whiteboard on which are written a bunch of equations that are supposed to suggest technical complexities (it's a mismatch between simple gossips and complexity). Pierre-Paul, the PhD in philosophy guy? Surprise, surprise, he reads old classics and his interests are often paired with quasi-classical music in the background. If you ask an elementary school student how do you define a nice guy? That he gives out money to the homeless? Yup, that's exactly what's shown in the film. What's a secure and secretive way to transfer data? Flash drive. How to do top-secret business transactions? Make a couple of easy video calls.

There are at least a few scenes that are disturbingly insensitive, to say the least, to be shown in 2018. You be the judge of the context: one in which a man was hung and tortured, and some in which a specific group of real-life hobos in the city are portrayed as as a cheap means to manipulate our emotions (not sure if the filmmaker got their permission to be filmed and shown).

There are various gorgeous shots of the city of Montreal, I'm not complaining, but one wonders: what's the connection between those shots with the narrative?

A MOVIE THAT HAS BE SEEN TO PUT YOUR BRAIN BACK TO WORK

[abisio · 9/10 · 2 July 2019]

If are already tired of empty movies full of superheroes, sick people love stories, dysfunctional families then take a couple of hours and exercise your brain. Arcand most important weapon are dialogs; like Tarantino's but with very deeper meaning and without forcing styles. It is always necessary to have great actors to deliver most of the lines; and as always his team is perfect even when sometimes did not even look like professional actors. The story is basically a thriller (or a Polar since the movie is in French). A Philosophy witness a holdup and escape with two huge bags full of money. The police tries to nail him. Add to the equation an ex con expert in money laundering, a very expensive prostitute another money laundering expert (this one playing for the big leagues) and a bunch of cops that are perhaps worse than the criminals itself. Yes there a few criminals but they are mostly an accessory to the script. The important thing here is the social commentary. How consumerism has destroyed society and how society is getting every day colder. How government only interest is to get money to expend (and obviously to embezzlement ). Even when the movie plays more than a comedy; there are a couple of quite violent explicit scenes and a good created suspense . Some dialogs are worth remembering forever; some scenes are quite poetic and mood altering and the whole movie is an uplifting experience that let us think about our lives. There are some pace issues and the final two scenes feel unnecessary however is just a very small detail in an otherwise almost perfect movie

More than entertainment

[cpelava · 9/10 · 17 July 2019]

Very sweet movie. Very satirical, and, has that wonderful Canadian soul.

The American Dream (not?)

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 21 October 2019]

Some things are just simple. And the same goes for movies. There is a formula to some, which you can spot very early on. It's not always something bad, even if a movie is predictable, it does not have to dissapoint at all. In this case, I thought I knew where this was going, but was quite wrong about my assumptions in general, which was refreshing.

And that is concerning the plot but also the characters. You expect certain things, then things happen and you think you know why ... and nope that wasn't the case. This is therefor quite the peculiar little movie (and not for the squeamish either with certain bits of violence that may be too much for some, even if they are not too graphic). And I love it for it. A quiet little slow paced thriller that knew how to entertain. What more do I need? Hopefully you feel the same way - and let's see what I other movies of this director I can find

too long and slow

[lusha12 · 5/10 · 26 January 2020]

Actors reactions to situations are unbelievable in my opinion. the main character is portrayed as a funny geeky Dr of philosophy. but he doesn't really act that way. and at the end of the story they leave lots of loose ends (like the american mobster) .

Canadian Masterpiece!

[j-camf · 12 March 2021]

What a director Denys Arcand is - all the way from "Jesus of Montreal" to this superb classic. It is truly a magnificent plot that manages to have its cake and eat it too in that we are dealing with more or less petty crime in the context of larger social crimes. To me the lead roles come off so well because of fine performances - there's a humanity here at work that truly appeals to me. Alexandre Landry as a naive philosophical type who hasn't really got a clue but is kind-hearted and Maripier Morin as sex worker as clever as they come drew me in deeply. The highlight the social context which Arcand is at pains to adumbrate without it overwhelming the story's unfolding into something one might describe as worthwhile and meaningful for an audience whilst also being suspensful. Montreal and Quebec are served well by such productions.

Deserves an 8

[kingjohn-68619 · 8/10 · 12 May 2021]

I had to give this movie a better rating than the current average score.

Why? Because I really got entertained!

I liked the characters, I liked the story, and I, for sure will have to see more from this director!

A criticism of tje system.

[LUIS · 8/10 · 23 January 2020]

After the philosopher and volunteer volunteer, the smiling escort and the biker tax advisor there is a whole criticism of the system. I liked it.

Excellent parody taking down the moneyed system among the haves with a moral ending for the have nots

[kdlprod75018 · 8/10 · 30 April 2020]

I can't believe I did not hear about Denys Arcand's 'The Fall of the American Empire' back in 2018 when it was released, and thanks to the lockdown stay at home in 2020, I got a free subscription to a movie channel that had this movie! If you haven't seen his other great movies such as 'The Barbarian Invasions' or 'The Decline of the American Empire' or 'Jesus de Montreal', you may want to watch them as well before or after this one... there's no order. Let's start with the bad first, as this movie is not perfect but still very enjoyable and so different from the usual fares you typically find on Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu. If you're looking for great cinematography, you won't find it here. It's pretty straightforwardly filmed, almost like a cheap TV series you can find on the BBC, France Televisions, CBC or NBC - very old school. You won't find beautiful shots like in Hollywood movies, elaborate tracking shots and beautifully lit shallow depth of field sceneries in the dark or at dawn under a beautiful sky... There are also some glaring plot holes that are hard to understand as you find the main protagonist of the film (Pierre Paul) getting hooked up, falling in love and scheming with a gorgeous call girl (Aspasie) very implausible, their chance encounter with a reformed convict very far fetched, and many other poorly executed plot devices meant to drive the story farther along. But let's put the above all aside as you will no doubt be smitten by the clever and caustic means by which the filmmaker is able to draw you into his expose on the power of money and the many ways our current system favors the moneyed interests. It starts with an amazing intro scene dialogue with Pierre Paul (played by Alexandre Landry) talking with his soon to be ex-girlfriend... on the merits of being intelligent in our current society... So nicely put... Then the movie disguises as a hold-up turned bad drama to really lay out what the filmmaker really wanted to expose... the ways with which powerful moneyed interests are able to cleanse their money and evade our globalized tax system. It's very well put together and clever, with a tinge of morality that will make you feel good in the end. Not as satisfying as 'the Barbarian Invasions' which was such a well made movie and well acted and so well put together which won the director an oscar... but this is a very good film nevertheless, and so different from what you can see nowadays... no such thing as identity politics and PC placeholders either which is refreshing... A must watch really even though it's not perfect, not is it beautifully shot...

The movie is a mockery of common sense

[newjersian · 2/10 · 15 December 2021]

Apparently, this unrealistic goofy story was initially created for unpretentious and stupid audience.

Nothing in this story makes any sense. At every turn of the plot, you wonder how could the criminal be so dumb to leave such a trail of damning evidence behind and how the police can be even dumber not figuring it out.

As a critic once said, "Making a commercially viable film in Canada is like trying to compete with Ford by building a car in your basement." No wonder this movie is still more than 2 million dollars short of recovering the money spent on filming it.

However, the beautiful girl is a plus. So my score is 2 instead of 1.

Excellent

[matthewspencer-06055 · 9/10 · 26 June 2019]

I love Denys Arcand's movies--Barbarian Invasions is my favourite movie of all time! This one is similar. The only thing I didn't like was the unrealistic social justice fixation at the end.

A brilliant film

[christian_fournier · 10/10 · 2 February 2022]

This is my third viewing, and I am discovering that the more one sees this film, the more one is driven to like it. This - plus being a dedicated fan of Arcand - explains my 10/10 grade. On this third viewing I concentrated on the plot which is brilliant. Contrary to some of the other reviewers, I find this plot quite plausible, particularly for the police work which is impeccable. The only flaw I find with the plot is not during the film but 'after' the film: I can't see how the protagonists could go on living in Canada with their money abroad - the police would continue to watch them and soon find a way to nail them. But after all, they could either move to Switzerland an enjoy their money or remain in Canada and live happily on shoestrings: "Vivre d'amour et d'eau fraîche", as the saying goes! Anyway, the plot is not the only asset of the film; the actors are brilliant too. __ .