As a French III student, I’m among those caught in the rush of trying to get last minute cultural points before the end of the semester. You can do various things to earn culture points, like translating a song or cooking French food. I decided to watch a French movie and was pleased to find one easily on Youtube.

It sounded interesting enough from a synopsis I looked up beforehand, but I can assure you the movie was anything but. “Les Bons Débarras” is a film about a thirteen-year-old girl named Manon who lives with her mother Michelle and her uncle Ti-Guy in Quebec. Manon seeks her mother’s undivided love and hates going to school. Michelle learns that she is pregnant with the child of her cop boyfriend, Maurice. She must also deal with an overly-affectionate mechanic named Gaetan. And Ti-Guy is an alcoholic with a mental handicap who is infatuated with Mme. Viau-Vachon, whom the family sells firewood to.

While that may all sound good, that’s all just back story. The movie never makes any attempt to develop these problems, except for the issue of Manon requesting her mother to love her unconditionally. At the beginning of the movie, I liked Manon’s character because she was a sassy little girl who didn’t take anything from anyone. However, as she began to taunt her mother in order to gain her love, she turned from this independent, entertaining girl into a whiney, boring brat.

Michelle’s story is what confuses me. Everything seems fine at first, and then we find out she’s pregnant. Okay, cool, there could be a conflict here… nope. Maurice, although seemingly against the idea of having a child, doesn’t pay it any attention at all after the first third of the movie. I don’t even care about spoiling some parts of the film in this article because I hope that none of you have to have the misfortune of watching this movie. The best part of the movie is when Michelle discovers that Maurice has been sexually harassing Manon, mostly because she displays an emotion that is not neutral or crying (the only other two emotions shown throughout the entire movie).

Her relationship with Gaetan confused me immensely. He sexually harasses her on numerous occasions throughout the movie, and then suddenly, they’re at a lounge together for no apparent reason. This event has no explanation whatsoever. A man who she has openly expressed hatred for is now dancing with her intimately at a lounge. Why? I’ve no idea. My guess is that they’re a couple or something now. As I said, the movie never fully explains this plotline. This could also be part of the cultural barrier between us and the French Canadians. Maybe that’s why this movie is so strange and boring- it’s made by Canadians (No Canadian hate. I’m actually Canadian myself.)

Lastly is Ti-Guy, the most underdeveloped character of the movie. His character has the most potential of them all to deliver a great story. Every 30 minutes, you see a shot of Ti-Guy drinking beer at the side of the road, then no more. I did think that his storyline with Mme. Viau-Vauchon was good and told well (maybe the only fully developed storyline in the film). But I would’ve liked to see more of the relationship between him and his sister, dealing with his mental handicap, and trying to find a purpose (instead of getting thrown out of bars every time we see him).

The way the characters interacted with each other felt very forced. The chemistry that we were supposed to feel between certain characters was clouded over with awkward pauses and bad acting. As I said earlier, Manon progressively became whinier as the movie went on, but otherwise she was fun and sassy. I missed seeing that version of Manon in some of the more intense parts of the movie (yes, all two of them). As for Michelle, she acted so angry around all of her romantic interests. I wanted them all to dump her in the end because she acted so incredibly aggressive around them. Then again, she would probably start bawling her eyes out. Seeing as 2/3 of the movie is Michelle crying, we really don’t need to add any more tearful screen time. Ti-Guy was my favorite, obviously, and he played the character of the drunkard so well! All he had to do was lie around, break the law, and be blatantly rude to all other characters. It’s an actor’s dream to get a role like that!

I don’t want to completely spoil the film, but I will say this: the ending is quite possibly the worst ending of any movie in existence. That’s not even an exaggeration. The last 20 minutes of the film are all happy, like, “Oh! Look! We solved all of the non-existent problems with the plot!” Then in the last two minutes, something horrible happens and Manon ignores it. No, it is certainly not set up for a sequel. I actually began yelling at my computer to stop as the screen faded to black. The movie could not end on such a note. But it does, and I had to pay the price by watching it.

This movie is from 1979, but if any of the writers of the movie are still alive and making films, I have some advice. First, no one wants a whiney little girl character because they spoil the fun for everyone and you can hear audible groans whenever they appear on the screen. Second, cast a female lead who has a varied emotional repertoire, not just a poker face and sobbing. Third, give plenty of development to all of your characters, even the ones you underestimate. They might be the ones that surprise you the most. Finally, and most importantly, make sure your movie has a plot.