Themes: Small-Town Life, Ladder to the Top, Fish Out of Water
Main Cast: Benoît Poelvoorde, Julien Boisselier, Michel Duchaussoy, Etienne Chicot, Yvon Back
Release Year: 2001
Country: FR
Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
Four salesmen hit the open road, searching for adventure and hoping to unload some encyclopedias in this eccentric comedy from France. Jerome (Julien Boisselier) is a timid man who lands a job that doesn't seem immediately appropriate for his temperament -- he's become a door-to-door salesman hawking a five-volume encyclopedia. Jerome hits the road along with three other salesmen -- crafty Patrick (Etienne Chicot), polished Michel (Yvon Back), and good-natured long-timer Jacques (Michel Duchaussoy) -- as well as their supervisor, Regis (Benoit Poelvoorde), who appears to have adopted Alec Guinness' character in The Bridge on the River Kwai as his role model. With time, Jerome gets the hang of his job, and even grows to enjoy convincing people that they need his books. But life on the road poses more than its share of challenges, especially as Regis begins to veer farther and farther away from reality. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
