Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

This is one of the most stupid and lazy movies i have seen in many many years. . ! Where to begin? ? 1) the acting is very mediocre and even terribly bad at times. 2) the script is a bunch of clichés. 3) the stereotyping of the people in different regions of France is utterly ridiculous and even offending at times. 4) if you don't understand or speak the French language a lot of the (so- called or so- intended) humor will make no sense at all and that's because the humor consists mainly of word games. I don't want to waste any more time in writing this review; but i'll give you one advice: avoid at all cost!

With 17 million viewers, the 1966 comedic hit "La Grande Vadrouille" reigned on the French box-office for more than four decades. But the king was finally dethroned by a sleeper hit with a catchy title "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis", starring Dany Boon and Kad Merad.Both actors aren't on the same league than the iconic Louis de Funès and Bourvil duo. Yet for some reason, the film met with immediate success thanks to … call it as you want, Internet, buzz, word-to-mouth … something that definitely touched the hearts of 20 million viewers, one third of French population, which makes me realize that "La Grande Vadrouille" proportionally did better.But let's not pollute this review with numeracy, like I said for "Intouchables", the film benefited from the virtual circle of success, becoming a phenomenon, something people came at less to see it, than to see what's so great about it. And as an aspiring film-maker, I've got to hand it to Dany Boon for having have made a film with such an effect. Where "Welcome to the Ch'tis" worked, many others have failed, especially those that tried to follow some guidelines for a successful comedy, I guess what the "Ch'tis" have is called sincerity and good intentions, a sort of Capraesque 'feel-good' quality, praising the unique charm of small little towns and their caring and loving inhabitants.It's sincere because the film is set in the North, which is to France what the Midwest is to USA. To avoid repetition, I invite you to check my review of "Les Tuche" to get my idea about the region. Anyway, "Ch'tis" (referring to the inhabitants) had a story to tell, the story of a cocky and arrogant manager sleeping on the laurels of his success under Mediterranean sun until he's 'promoted' to the North, a place full of hard-drinking rednecks with incomprehensible accents, and a sky depressingly gray. The film does exaggerate the reputation of the North and make it sound like a sort of doomed place, I guess this is to be taken in a humorous light, a running gag that should have culminated with Michel Galabru's cameo, describing with his Southern accent, North as if it was a haunted mansion.But as the singer said (quote from the 'Tuche' review) : "People from the North have in their eyes the blue lacking in their setting and in their heart the sun that is not shining". And that's the shining Philippe (Kad Merad) will discover. It's a coming-to-realization that thankfully happens very quickly, revealing that the man was prejudiced but not a bigot, he was probably troubled by his marital problems and sleeping in the house of his employee, a gentle postman named Antoine (Dany Boon) didn't help, nor facing the menacing stare of his mother reminding me of Agnes Skinner, and played by one of the most defining figures of the North: Line Renaud.The breakfast is rather disastrous full of Maroualle (a particularly smelly local cheese) cheap coffee, and a series of dialogs whose accents are, so to speak, accentuated to have the same effects on the laughs. My wife, coming from the North, laughed more than me. There had to be a film about the Ch'tis, a sort of adventure in a new world with a heart inside. The ice is finally broken when Pierre decides to follow Antoine during his workday, to prevent him from drinking, naturally he ends up as drunk as him, contributing to the film's defining picture, an enchanting moment of male-bonding, friendship and mutual understanding. I can't blame a film for trying to evoke so many positive feelings.But the plot weakens when Philippe tries to hide the truth from his wife (Zoé Felix) and to make it worse, she decides to visit him, and then comes a sequence belonging to another film, where all the local people act according to the very stereotypes that insult them, and the wife buys it (not too long, but still). Since the point is to prove that they're not dumb dim-witted people, would they take part of such a senseless joke if they weren't? The climax occurs when Antoine finally find the nerve to declare his love from the belfry where he works as the bell-ringer (what was so difficult anyway?), and as if Phillipe's bell was rang in the same time, he takes the trademark Post yellow trunk to the South in order to apologize to his wife. This is when the film gets too conventional for such a hit, and I felt like cheated a bit.But I could have forgiven that if it wasn't for one thing, one thing the film lacks: a punch line. There's no comedy without a simple joke, a smile, a laugh at the end, but as if we hadn't enough emotions, it had to feature the cringe-worthy sight of Philippe weeping like a kid. And Antoine's triumph "see, we cry twice, when we come and when we leave", all right, when he told him that on the beach, we could see that coming from a mile, so why not just make an effort to surprise us? A film that ambitious could have at least been kind enough to have a small, a frail, a timid little twist. It's unfortunate when the funniest scene of the film I spoil (let's just say, it features a wheelchair) happens so soon in the beginning.And the polemics raised when the film only grabbed one nomination for Best Screenplay earning the Academy of Césars an accusation of snobbishness, against popular cinema, which is not totally untrue, but still, how many nominations "The Visitors" had, or "Amelie", or "Intouchables" these are far superior film that deserved to be the number one. "Bievenue Chez les Ch'tis" was probably released at the right time, about the right place, and its genuineness touched people. But this is far from being the greatest French comedy ever, simply the highest-grossing.

At times the plot is not very credible as the story goes in the Internet era when finding information about another part of a country and dialects spoken there should not be a nuclear science... Although I have experienced French arrogance and poor knowledge of geography, I have never heard or noticed that North-Eastern part has been considered somewhat "low" (vis-a-vis North-West). Nord-Pas de Calais is almost Belgium and there are lots of beautiful cities and townships; OK, I agree, that climate leaves a lot to be desired :)There are 2 funny groups of scenes: a) on the postal route and b) welcoming the wife, when the 2 main male actors are able to show their skills and brilliance... In short, Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis is OK watching, but a bit overrated; Intouchables is much better. At least for a non-Frenchman like me.

OK, this isn't a masterpiece but sure is a pleasant surprise and reaches something rare: it entertains the spectator during it's entire content.There are movies that sometimes loose their balance and consequently bore the viewer making it become then a flop. However this piece of french film-making, that is to the date the most viewed movie in France, maintains a positive balance that comfortably puts a big smile on the face of those who watch it.A Portuguese critic said that this is commercial cinema, sure, but the best of it. Good performances, funny plot filled with hilarious passages and a confident directing make this a must see french 'feel-good' gem that achieves the mission of making the client happy - 7/10.