Treat Yourself To A Funny French Heist Flick

Sometimes people call a film ‘fun’ as a polite way to say that it was moderately enjoyable, despite some obvious flaws. But you can legitimately use the fun word for The World is Yours, a charming French crime comedy by way of Netflix. It’s a straight up delight.

Take one part bumbling softie Farès (Karim Leklou). Add his conniving mother Danny (Isabelle Adjani), who happens to be a master thief and con artist. Then, add useless old fogey and family friend Henri (Vincent Cassel de-sexified under age makeup and a hair piece). Now publish this as a recipe for a deliciously hilarious heist movie and collect your kudos.

Farès has grown up with a mother who would just as soon steal from him and exploit him for laughs in front of her friends before she’d extend any much-needed help. He decides he’d rather live a quiet life of distributing Mr. Freeze ice pops in North Africa than put up with any more of her shit in France. To make that dream a reality Farès needs startup capital, but the only avenue he has is one more drug run. Of course, things don’t go as planned.

THE WORLD IS YOURS ★★★★ (4/5 stars)
Directed by: Romain Gavras
Written by: Karim Boukercha, Noé Debré, and Romain Gavras
Starring: Karim Leklou, Isabelle Adjani, and Vincent Cassel
Running time: 94 min.

The World is Yours is a film about turning your life around. If you’ve ever felt like no one—not even your own family—understands you and maybe you don’t belong among all the chaos around you, this might be your new anthem. Even if you’ve been a loser your whole life, you’re maybe just one incredibly well-coordinated felony away from getting everyone off your back and retiring in style. You could be your own Tony Montana, without the incest! It’s up to you whether you’d still have people greet your little friend.

Director Romain Gavras brings a fresh eye to the heist genre, recognizable from his brash work on M.I.A.’s music video for “Bad Girls.” He also brings jokes, filling The World is Yours with quirky character moments. Henri repeatedly tumbles down an Illuminati rabbit hole on YouTube. A pair of comic-relief goons daydream about how they would screw each other over at the end of their con. This movie refuses to take its crimes seriously.

It’s the rare heist film that presents you with characters that you root for, even if they’re unpredictable with complex motivations. And if that take on this  genre appeals to you, this film delivers the big score. It won’t even count your money.

The World is Yours is out on Netflix now. You don’t need a promotional blimp to tell you to check this one out right away.