Written and directed by brothers Harpo and Lenny Guit, the Belgian film Mother Schmuckers (Fils de plouc) follows in the vein of offbeat, coming-of-age comedies centering on misfit protagonists. Unlike its successful predecessors of awkward comedy (Napoleon Dynamite being a well-known example of such film collections), Mother Schmuckers delivers on the ‘awkward’ without any of the ‘comedy.’
The Belgian comedy follows Issachar (Maxi Delmelle) and Zabulon (Harpo Guit), brothers primarily characterized by two qualities: competitive and stupid. When the young men lose track of their family dog, January Jack, their mother Cachemire (Claire Bodson) threatens to kick them permanently out of her house. Run-ins with the police, Cachemire’s boss Violeta (Chaida Chady Suku Suku), her stalker Daniel (Toni d’Antonio), and several troublemakers with a grudge against the brothers all threaten their goal–but their greatest obstacle is their own idiocy.
The underlying premise and emotional heart of the offbeat comedy is Issachar and Zabulon’s seeking after their mother’s love, which they pursue with blind determination. While the young men can occasionally be endearing in their naive outlook, the bulk of the film’s charm–which is mostly buried under aimless crudeness–comes from its side characters. The boys’ PEZ-collecting father (Mathieu Amalric) graces the screen with self-effacing affability; their best friend Choukri (Habib Ben Tanfous) humorously personifies the self-assured nerd archetype, his confidence in his own perceived “coolness” belied by his dorky ensemble and an overestimation of his filmmaking abilities. While these quirky characters are good for a few chuckles, random plot points do little to tie them significantly into the overarching story.
The niche, offbeat comedic style Mother Schmuckers attempts by its deadpan delivery and intentionally-shoddy camerawork is undercut by explosively direct punchlines. In its most climactic moments, the film resorts to exploiting taboo subjects such as necrophilia and bestiality simply for the sake of shock value. Lacking humor and nuance at their best, these jokes are pointlessly offensive at their worst. The fatal flaw of the Guit brothers' directorial debut, however, is its presumptuousness–in reaching too brazenly for cult-classic status. Where tonally-similar films succeed in subtle comedic presentation, Mother Schmuckers stares its viewers in the face as it drops over-the-top and obscene jokes, waiting for the laughs that will never come. This offbeat coming-of-age comedy is not recommended but could find its place in film collections of absurdist cinema.
What kind of film series would this comedy fit in?
Mother Schmuckers is a viable screening for film series highlighting Belgian cinema.
What kind of film collection would this title be suitable for?
Mother Schmuckers evokes a particular kind of offbeat comedy, belonging to a film collection with misfit-centric movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Hot Rod.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Mother Schmuckers is an optional addition to Belgian, French-language, coming-of-age, and comedy public library shelves.