Buddy films are characterized by the contrasts between the main characters, which cannot be big enough. In French cinema there is the classic “The Filzlaus”, in which a constantly babbling suicide candidate meets a monosyllabic professional killer. “From the Middle – Through Paris at Full Throttle” is actually somewhat reminiscent of the pitch-black comedy with Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel. However, the rather limp big-city crime farce, with its mostly inelegant situational comedy and a anything but confidently constructed plot, unfortunately cannot even begin to keep up with its great role model. This is by no means due to the clever comedy warhorse Christian Clavier (“Monsieur Claude”), who is once again able to show off his considerable comedic repertoire in the lead role of the sly Hippolyte – a former safe cracker who switched to the locksmith industry.
Hippolyte’s buddy is Stan (Rayane Bensetti), a career-hungry nerd in his mid-30s who, as an engineer in a global construction company, tries everything to sneak his way to the top. He doesn’t shy away from becoming the lackey of his unscrupulous boss Richard (Gilles Cohen), who has promised him the long-awaited promotion. When Richard breaks his word, Stan goes crazy and emotionally steals a bag containing a million euros from the management safe. This is a bribe in connection with the construction of an airport in Central Asia. Together with his girlfriend Marine (Claire Chust), he wants to start a new life thanks to the loot. But shortly afterwards he finds out that he is about to get the job he longed for and that his boss wants to hand over the bag with the money himself the next morning. So the money has to go back into the safe. Unfortunately, the angry Stan threw the safe key in the trash. How good that he happened to meet Hippolyte from the locksmith “The Key to Happiness”…
Ex-safecracker Hippolyte (Christian Clavier) isn’t used to this: For the first time, he has to open a safe to put money in it!
The plot is staged at a fast pace, even if the development becomes increasingly confusing. After all, the initial situation is correct: upper class against lower class, loser against winner – and then there is powerful time pressure. This combination could work here too, but unfortunately it only works to a limited extent, because Rayane Bensetti only acts as a cue for his colleague Christian Clavier, against whom he can or is not allowed to do anything. Here the script noticeably weakens and wastes a lot of possibilities. Stan is and remains a pretty uninteresting character, one of those smooth young managers, a wishy-washy man with no qualities and a low profile – but at least always well dressed.
Instead, the great Clavier’s opponent could have been a really vain fatass, or at least a big-time idiot who was addicted to capitalism, or a timid, pedantic accountant. In any case, the chic wardrobe and perfect styling are not nearly enough to stand up to Christian Clavier’s comic elemental force.
The crux with the suitcase
While the opening sequences of “The Filzlaus” create two independent scenarios including different soundtracks for the two main characters and use simple means to establish them as original characters, director Grégoire Vigneron only thinks of introducing Stan and his various problems with the money suitcase. Unfortunately, this doesn’t make Stan any more interesting – and the whole back and forth with the suitcase not only seems exaggerated, but is also very familiar, because the suitcase is actually just a so-called “MacGuffin” – a prop that advances the plot, but whose contents are essentially meaningless.
Even a final twist towards zeitgeist and wokeness doesn’t help much – and ultimately seems as unnecessary as it is well-behaved. But Stan’s most striking feature seems to be that you constantly have to worry about his beautifully gelled hairstyle because he’s being pushed around a lot.
Rayane Bensetti doesn’t really get a chance to act on a humorous level with Christian Clavier!
As clumsily as the second main character is constructed, the supporting roles are well cast: Claire Chust is Stan’s terribly demanding, hysterically hectic and overly socially committed girlfriend Marine – and Gilles Cohen plays Stan’s boss as an ice-cold, always slightly threatening unpleasant person. To add to everyone’s amusement, there is the appearance of Hippolyte’s Mama, an AI-assisted character who bears a flagrant resemblance to Hippolyte – including his very implausible holiday tan.
Conclusion: A buddy comedy thrives on the interaction of the main characters, who are as different as possible – but in “Ab durch die Mitte” only Christian Clavier is convincing, while his beautifully coiffed counterpart Rayane Bensetti remains shockingly pale.