An unusual romcom, funny and flimsy

A sweet but an incredibly boring man is left at the altar by his fancy-free fiancee. This lovelorn man had taken a loan for the honeymoon to Mauritius. Since that’s non-refundable, the mother wants to tag along the grieving son to this lavish trip. Our hero wouldn’t have any of it, but his father guilt trips him into it, as the mother hasn’t had a vacation in years!

This is the funny and flimsy premise to French comedy ‘Honeymoon Crasher’. Titled ‘Lune De Miel Avec Ma Mere’ (‘Honeymoon With My Mom’) in French, that in turn is based on the Spanish film ‘Amor de Madre’ (Mother’s Love), it is an ode to all the romantic comedies one has seen before.

The opening scene is hilarious. Just as Lucas (Julien Frison) and Elodie (Clara Joly) are about to exchange vows, her ex shows up. Lucas considered her ex to be a car mechanic, but he turns out to be… hold your breath… Formula One driver Esteban Ocon!

What follows is a series of mishaps as the mother-son duo pretend to be a newly-wedded couple. Their uncommon bond — the ‘wife’ being older — wins them the royal suite. Lucas, who considers his mother a ‘wet blanket’, is in for a surprise as she enjoys the much-needed time away from marital drudgery. As for our hero, who would rather be safe being smothered, he is forced to open up to a new world.

The film makes you laugh, but also cringe at the incestuous setting. What definitely stands out is the picture-perfect Mauritius — gorgeous mornings, magical moonlit nights, and pretty people. Michele Laroque as mother Lily stands for every woman who has been cheated out of a life in marriage. As young romance is replaced by domesticity and motherhood, Lily finally breaks free.

Julien Frison goes through anger and misery in different stages, making it a hilarious track. Both the characters are written with love, and Michele Laroque and Julien Frison do a fair job of representing them.

Margot Bancilhon as Maya is eye-catchingly beautiful and leads Lucas on the path to recovery and self-discovery.

Cinematography by Jerome Almeras and music by Matteo Locasciulli make this a fun watch, even as the story is peppered by stock characters like comic manager Gloria (Rossy de Palma) and elderly sailor Captain Peter (Gilbert Melki).

Nicolas Cuche saves the story from dipping in the “Sweet-Home Alabama” waters time and again and delivers the message — how ‘mothers’ go through their uneventful life, alone. Of course, there are Indian references, right from bangles to sarees and sherwanis, Maya has a tattoo of the Hindi word ‘prem’.

What gets rather too much to bear is the overuse of constant romcom tropes. The upgrade is on the lines of ‘What Happens in Vegas’; the dance-off is taken from two iconic scenes from ‘Just Go With It’ and Ross-Monica’s dance routine in ‘Friends’. Even the leech-peeing scene, again Monica from ‘Friends’, and a plane ride to sunset — pretty much stock tropes.

Yet, any romcom fans out there can tune into for a one-time watch of ‘Honeymoon Crasher’, for some beautiful sightseeing and if you can overlook some Oedipal overtones, a mother-son story!