French-Canadian films have a serious potential for being, sweet, seductive, in good tone, serious when needed and captivating when the time is right. Well, The Fall of the American Empire (original title: La chute de l’empire américain) by director Denys Arcand (The Barbarian Invasions) is just that.
Montreal’s delivery truck driver with a degree in Philosophy Pierre-Paul Daoust (Alexandre Landry) accidentally finds himself at the center of a crime scene where he finds bushy bags of money, loads of cash abandoned in the failed heist. Devoid of any seriously discouraging second thoughts, he hides the money in his truck and drives off. The dilemma kicks off when he has to decide how to make the loot legit and there’s a gang out there ready to kill anyone to get the ‘lost property’ back.
Pierre-Paul develops a crush for a lavish escort girl, a beautifully charming Camille La Fontaine aka Aspasie (Maripier Morin) who helps him on the crusade to the riches. Added to the team is ex-con, former biker gang member Sylvain ‘The Brain’ Bigras (Remy Girard) who knows ‘the game’ and seems re-socialized enough to be trusted…
The film feels light and in its lightness it tackles the issues of global corruption, money laundering and tax avoidance schemes. There’s space for impossible romance, comedy, investigative flow and action.
Arcand’s twisting with the plot is of clever nature, making the film sexy, desirable but not too heavy on conscience, nicely colored and enthused. The characters work well together and send across some believable empathy. Camera work? No thrills but no disappointments either, it flies along with the film dynamics. There’s a message there…
Director: Denys Arcand
Writer: Denys Arcand
Stars: Alexandre Landry, Maxim Roy, Maripier Morin, Juliette Gosselin
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