Now Playing in San Diego at the Landmark Ken Cinema
French director Michel Gondry has made a career of unconventional and visually arresting projects, from elaborate Bjork and The White Stripes videos to striking features like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), The Science of Sleep (2006) and Mood Indigo (2014). By comparison with his other work, his latest may actually be the oddest of the bunch. Microbe & Gasoline is a small, bittersweet and reserved coming-of-age tale.
Daniel (Ange Dargent) is a 14 year old outcast who doesn’t fit in at school. Unfortunately, his small, youthful appearance, long-hair and artistic interests earn him the unfortunate nickname of Microbe. At least he makes a friend after the arrival of an unusual new student who is mockingly referred to as Gasoline (Théophile Baquet). The new student is a gear-head who fiddles with electronics and motors.
In addition to being ridiculed in class, the pair also struggle with home life – one has a severely depressed mother (Audrey Tautou) and the other a mean-spirited father. Desperate to escape, the two begin building a vehicle out of a lawnmower engine, scrap metal and wood with the intention of driving across the country on a road trip.
This is a movie of two halves. In general, the kids are great and their performances feel naturalistic and believable. Some of their problems (particularly with troubled adults in their lives) are more complex than we see in a typical teen flick. However, the first section does occasionally drag. We understand their problems early and see them struggle a bit longer than we really need to. The numerous masturbation and breast jokes begin to get a little familiar as well. And Gondry doesn’t employ the expected elaborate imagery, keeping things understated on camera.
Honestly, it’s a slow start and nearly half of the running time is devoted to Microbe and Gasoline’s lives at home. However, when they finally construct a house on wheels and essentially attempt to run away, the movie picks up considerably in every department. All of a sudden, these kids begin hiding from police, meeting eccentrics on the road and attempting to survive on their own. There’s more at stake from this point forward; the story suddenly becomes far more interesting.
It’s hard not to get a smile out of the absurdity of their makeshift car, with a flap that falls over the wheels to disguise the creation as a house. And there are a few more camera tricks on display in the second half, including some footage run backwards and a brief scene when night falls and Microbe begins to fear the elements outside the mobile home. There is also a really funny encounter with a homeowner in the country who invites the teens into his house and begins to obsess over their teeth. The pair fleeing in terror in an extremely slow-moving vehicle with the man in pursuit definitely earns a solid laugh. The climax, involving an fair art contest also results in plenty of chuckles.
In general, the film is far more entertaining as Microbe and Gasoline encounter threats on their travels and begin to deal with their own personal issues during the grand escape. The unusual, bittersweet climax also resonates a little more than many films of its genre. I wasn’t crazy about the first half of Microbe & Gasoline, but the characters and unusual situations slowly won me over as it progressed. It may not be flashy, but in the end this is a cute and agreeable enough road trip… once it gets moving.