A Little Something Extra
| A Little Something Extra | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| French | Un p'tit truc en plus |
| Directed by | Artus |
| Screenplay by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Jean-Marie Dreujou |
| Edited by | Jean-François Elie |
| Music by | Thomas Besson |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Pan Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Budget | $7.1 million[1] |
| Box office | $84 million[2] |
A Little Something Extra is 2024 French comedy film about a father and son, both criminals, who take refuge in a summer camp for people with disabilities, posing as a resident and his educator. [3][4][5]
Plot
[edit]Paulo lives from petty theft with his father, nicknamed "La Fraise". After holding up a small jewelry store in Isère, they realize that their car has been impounded, having parked illegally in a disabled space, next to an establishment caring for people with mental disabilities. While a colony is preparing to leave for a week's vacation in a gîte in Vercors, Alice, an educator and manager of the center, is waiting for a latecomer named Sylvain. Seeing Paulo and La Fraise arrive by chance, she thinks that Paulo is Sylvain. La Fraise sees this as an opportunity to hide from the police.
He also manages to accompany her on the bus, pretending to be an educator and making "Sylvain" believe that his presence is essential. La Fraise will be accidentally nicknamed "Orpi" during the journey. Arriving at the lodge, Alice learns that this will probably be the last year that the association will be able to stay there, due to the increase in rent, not to mention that she is preparing to leave for the United States to join her boyfriend, which she has difficulty announcing to the group.
At the same time, Paulo, now Sylvain, tries as best he can to pass himself off as disabled. He fools the educators, but is very quickly unmasked by Arnaud and Ludo, who quickly understood that "Sylvain" was not mentally deficient and was just pretending. Arnaud and Ludo will then ask Paulo to help them do certain things that they do not feel capable of, like asking out one of the residents named Marie, under penalty of revealing his secret. As the days go by, Paulo learns to live with these people who have a "little something extra", while feeling an attraction to Alice, while La Fraise, forced to play the educator, tries to find a solution to get by despite the lack of network and the breakage of his phone.
In spite of himself, he finds himself taking care of Baptiste, a football fan and more precisely of the Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo. Little by little, a connection ends up being established between them, which had never been possible with any of the other caregivers. However, his crude methods of stripping down and his mood swings are rather badly perceived by the rest of the team. At the same time, Alice ends up breaking up with her boyfriend, realizing that he absolutely wanted her to leave the association without a second thought to join him. A little tired of doing boring activities like coloring and yoga, the camp residents, led by Sylvain, suggest doing more productive activities, like cooking.
La Fraise, who is often outside with Baptiste, also suggests doing more activities outside the cottage. The idea seems to be unanimous and, for the last day of the holidays, Alice takes the colony canoeing. Faced with the refusal of the manager of the canoe rental, arguing a lack of security, La Fraise secretly takes him to task and threatens him to force him to accept. But when returning from the excursion, the manager called the police, pushing Paulo and La Fraise to flee. But marked by his experience, Paulo decides not to follow his father and gives himself up. A few days later, Paulo is tried. Alice and the colony arrive in full hearing to defend Paulo, who, despite his lie about his identity and situation, allowed everyone to have a wonderful stay. Four months later, Paulo is on parole and now works as a caregiver for Alice, with whom he is now in a relationship.
He sees his father arrive, arrested by the police and who has only a few minutes to talk to him. Before going to prison probably for three years, La Fraise gives Baptiste a new Cristiano Ronaldo jersey, then leaves, not without having left one last gift anonymously: with the money from the stolen jewelry, he bought the cottage to donate it to the association, allowing them to return every summer.[6] [6]
Cast
[edit]- Artus as Paulo / Sylvain
- Clovis Cornillac as Lucien
- Alice Belaïdi as Alice
- Marc Riso as Marc
- Céline Groussard as Céline
- Gad Abecassis as Gad
- Ludovic Boul as Ludovic
- Stanislas Carmont as Alexandre
- Marie Colin as Marie
- Thibaut Conan as Thibaut
- Mayane-Sarah El Baze as Mayanne
- Théophile Leroy as Baptiste
- Arnaud Toupense as Arnaud
- Sofian Ribes as Soso
- Boris Pitoeff as Boris
Production
[edit]A Little Something Extra is the first feature film directed by Artus
The actors engaged in the main roles are Artus, Clovis Cornillac, Alice Belaïdi, Marc Riso; Artus is the director as well as the co-writer with Clément Marchand and Milan Mauger
Release
[edit]In December 2023, the company Pan Distribution announced a release date for the A Little Something Extra, then scheduled for December 1, 2024.[7]
The film premiered on April 10, 2024, at the Rencontres du cinéma de Gérardmer, in the presence of the director and finally released in theaters earlier than announced: May 1, 2024.[8]
Reception
[edit]The film achieved the second best start in the history of French cinema, behind Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis in 2008.[9] In 20 days, the film has accumulated more than 3 million admissions in France.[citation needed] The film grossed over $50 million in its six-week run in French theaters and had nearly 7 million admissions.[10] In August, the film exceeded 10 million admissions, becoming the 12th highest-grossing French film of all time.[citation needed] It was the most watched film in French cinemas in 2024, with 10.3 million tickets sold.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "Un p'tit truc en plus (2024) - JP Box-Office". www.jpbox-office.com. Retrieved Aug 31, 2024.
- ^ "A Little Something Extra". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 16, 2024. Retrieved Aug 31, 2024.
- ^ "'A Little Something Extra,' Starring Actors With Disabilities, Dethrones 'Dune 2' at French Box Office and Sparks Remake Deals". Variety. Archived from the original on 2024-08-21. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
- ^ "The disability comedy besting blockbusters in France". RTL. Archived from the original on 2024-08-21. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
- ^ "Behind the success of French box-office phenomenon 'A Little Something Extra': "We promoted it like an American blockbuster"". Screendaily. Archived from the original on 2024-08-21. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
- ^ A Little Something Extra (2024) ⭐ 7.4 | Comedy. Retrieved 2024-08-28 – via m.imdb.com.
- ^ rédaction, La (2023-12-05). "Pan Distribution réaménage son printemps-été 2024 - Boxoffice Pro". www.boxofficepro.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ Sanchez, Adam (2024-05-02). "Un p'tit truc en plus : la comédie sur le handicap signée Artus est bien le phénomène cinéma de 2024". GQ France (in French). Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ "Un p'tit truc en plus signe un des meilleurs démarrages français depuis Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis". Premiere.fr (in French). 2024-05-02. Archived from the original on 2024-08-30. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ "Le phénomène Un p'tit truc en plus passe la barre des 7 millions d'entrées". Le Figaro (in French). 2024-06-17. Archived from the original on 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
- ^ Henley, Jon (10 January 2025). "Crime, comedy and The Count of Monte-Cristo: French flock to cinemas to watch homegrown films". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2025.