TheRetroCritic

Taking another break from Hollywood filmmaking, director Michel Gondry follows Mood Indigo with Microbe Et Gasoil (Microbe & Gasoline), a coming-of-age story about two young boys building a makeshift car of sorts and travelling around France. Newcomers Ange Dargent and Théophile Baquet play the titular leads and the playful friendship their characters form is both real and touching. You're never quite sure where the film is going and, while it could have easily developed into a love story, it instead reveals itself to simply be a film about rebellion and growing-up. Gondry takes a step back this time and doesn't add in his own brand of surreal storytelling and practical effects. The only unusual part of the film being the house/car the teenagers drive throughout. Microbe Et Gasoil taps into a specific feeling most of us can probably relate to, that is the reluctance to be different, to grow-up and the dream of one day just setting off on an adventure with no plans of

The best Michel Gondry films are tough acts to follow, which is why for every brilliant Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind there's a lukewarm Be Kind Rewind . Luckily, even at his worst, Gondry's work is creative and inventive enough to keep you intrigued throughout. Sadly, his new effort Mood Indigo (aka L'Écume Des Jours) is yet another not bad but not great flick with tons and tons of charm and mind-bending DIY effects but unfortunately nowhere near the level of intricate dark, surreal wit you'd find in a Charlie Kaufman script. The French film, based on a novel by Boris Vian, sees Romain Duris fall in love with Audrey Tautou's character and get married before she becomes sick and their relationship slowly but surely starts crumbling. The cast also includes Omar Sy as Duris' verbose friend/butler, Gad Elmaleh as his troubled pal and Gondry himself as Tautou's doctor. Also look out for a fun cameo appearance by Alain Chabat as a TV cook. From t