Gérard Depardieu, Déborah Lukumuena, Steve Tientcheu
In Constance Meyer’s droll, touching directorial debut, Gérard Depardieu stars as an ageing film star who forms an unlikely bond with his new bodyguard.
Once a huge star, George (Depardieu) is now ageing and in all kinds of decline. When his right-hand man and only friend takes a leave of absence for several weeks, Aïssa (Déborah Lukumuena), a semi-pro wrestler who earns a living as a security officer, is appointed as a replacement. Despite their many differences – one a pragmatic, hard-working young bodyguard, the other a cosseted, dissipated actor – George and Aïssa gradually develop a friendship, finding out that their lives have shaped them more similarly than they first thought.
Charming and briskly unsentimental, Robust is superbly well cast and performed, with the scene-stealing Lukumuena playing off Depardieu’s bluster and bombast with amused practicality and calm. A delightful odd-couple comedy-drama bringing together one of France’s most prolific stars and one of its newest.
