Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis (Welcome to the Land of Shtis) (Welcome to the Sticks) (2008)

71% of critics liked it
(7 reviews)
78% of users liked it
(21,421 ratings)

A man born and raised on France's Southern coast is exiled to the Northern territories in this comedy from actor, director and screenwriter Dany Boon. Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad) helps run the post office in a picturesque small town in the South of France, Salon de Provence. Philippe's wife Julie… More A man born and raised on France's Southern coast is exiled to the Northern territories in this comedy from actor, director and screenwriter Dany Boon. Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad) helps run the post office in a picturesque small town in the South of France, Salon de Provence. Philippe's wife Julie (Zoe Felix) has been down in the dumps, and he thinks one way to lift her spirits would be to relocate to the more glamorous surroundings of the Cote d'Azur. However, Philippe's attempts to finagle a transfer (by pretending that he is handicapped) fail, and when the ruse is discovered, he ends up being punished with a forced relocation to Bergues, a village in Northern France that lies stuck between Belgium and the English Channel. In this area, the indigenes speak a language known as Picard - an amalgam of French, Flemish and Latin - and Philippe essentially perceives the region as the "Siberia of France." With misery in his heart, he dons extreme winter clothing and trudges off to his new post, saying goodbye to Julie and their son, who opt to stay behind. To make matters worse, not long after arriving in Bergues, Philippe nearly runs over a man while driving home drunk -- who turns out to be one of his new colleagues at the post office, But Philippe eventually finds to his surprise that he enjoys life in Bergues, and begins to love the community and its people, even growing infatuated with Annabelle (Anne Marivin), a beautiful letter carrier. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Dany Boon
Written By: Dany Boon, Alexandre Charlot
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Feb 8, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Dec 2, 2008
Studio: Christal Films

Critic Reviews

Kamal Al-Solaylee, Globe and Mail
There's nothing revolutionary or artistically groundbreaking here, but there's something reassuring in the fact that this is what the French have anointed as their biggest hit. Vive la (low-key) différence.
Greg Quill, Toronto Star
[Dany] Boon tinkers with the formula just enough to make his story fresh and the sentiment at its heart not too sweet, though compounded contrivances in the last 30 minutes of the picture threaten to unravel its peculiar magic.
Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
den mporeis kai ola na ta katalabaineis ap' aytin tin farsokomodia poy den stereitai ekstatikon empneyseon sti domi, ektos ki an ta 'heis zisei apo konta
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
Welcome to the Sticks is the most successful movie ever released in France, possibly because self-deprecating humour is so rare there.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
In this comedy about misconceptions, love and true friendship, Danny Boon gives us an enjoyable lesson in avoiding making assumptions about people
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
Thoroughly enjoyable and contagiously funny, this is solid French gold
Boyd van Hoeij, european-films.net
A winner. Puts its tale of a southern postal worker hoping for a transfer to the Côte d'Azur through the very effective reverse psychology wringer when he ends up in the dreaded north instead - but discovers he loves it.

Read all 7 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Nicki M

Slight, but amusing film. The parts where the wife goes to visit are hilarious, and I give full marks to whoever did the translating for the subtitltes!
Luke T

Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis. Simply formulaic, but charmingly funny. I'll start out by saying that I've lived in Belgium my whole life, and I speak French. Coming from that point of view, this film was hilarious. I loved that it begins pouring rain the second he enters… More
Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis. Simply formulaic, but charmingly funny. I'll start out by saying that I've lived in Belgium my whole life, and I speak French. Coming from that point of view, this film was hilarious. I loved that it begins pouring rain the second he enters into the territory of "Le Nord" (been there), and the constant use of the term "Biloute" (done that). The performances are nice, especially Dany Boon, who did a great job of directing and writing as well. The story was nothing amazing, but because of the charming characters and my own love for anti-Northern France jokes, it succeeds greatly. Why 70%? Because you get plenty of clever laughs along with a likable, the situations are fun and its tight pace keeps things moving nicely. Extra: The English subtitles don't do the Ch'tis accents justice, they're hilarious. A lot of French humor revolves around wordplay and double-meanings, and this movie has plenty of those. Have you seen this dubbed? Is it any good? Well anyways, several very French/Belgian moments.
Ina S

Charming, at times downright hilarious comedy. Unfortunately I don't speak a word of French and have no deeper knowledge of the culture clash between North and South - the film is probably truly funny to French audiences, as the success in France also demonstrates.
Laurence C

Alright, so it made about twenty million bucks in France alone, so it MUST be some good, right? Yeah. It's good. And it's funny. Boon sure knows how to stage delightfully likeable (and unlikeable) characters in an offbeat environment. The laughs come quick, and most of… More
Alright, so it made about twenty million bucks in France alone, so it MUST be some good, right? Yeah. It's good. And it's funny. Boon sure knows how to stage delightfully likeable (and unlikeable) characters in an offbeat environment. The laughs come quick, and most of the time, they're subtle and effective thanks to the cast's enormous comic timing. But I, bitter cinephile, was most definitely annoyed by the many, many narrative shortcuts employed throughout. I understand this is very much a light comedy that cannot possibly last more than two hours, but there a pacing issues (some about being too quick, or being somewhat sluggish) that could easily have been avoided if it swayed a little farther from the conventions of the genre. For such a phenomenal success, I eexpected something a bit more revolutionary, not the perfect formula served perfectly. But, *sigh*, you should see it. It's highly enjoyable, despite its conventional screenplay. The dialogue is engaging, it's pretty to look at (and Merad's perfectly cast mug is a high point for me) and the audience explodes with laughter (sometimes even too much, in my case).

Cast

            Kad Merad as Philippe Abrams

            Dany Boon as Antoine Bailleul

            Zoé Félix as Julie Abrams

            Anne Marivin as Annabelle Deconninck

            Philippe Duquesne as Fabrice Canoli

            Guy Lecluyse as Yann Vandernoot

            Patrick Bosso as Policeman 'A7'

            Michel Galabru as Julie's Great-Uncle

            Stephane Freiss as Jean Sabrier

            Zinedine Soualem as Momo

            Line Renaud as Madame Bailleul (Antoine's Mother)

            Lorenzo Ausilia Foret as RaphaÃ«l Abrams

            Jerome Commandeur as Inspector Lebic

            Alexandre Carrière as Tony Annabelle's Lover

            Fred Personne as Monsieur Vasseur

            Franck Andrieux as Monsieur Leborgne

            Jean-Christoph Herbeth as Monsieur Mahieux

            Jean-Pierre Picotin as Monsieur Tizaute

            Jenny Clève as Grandma Quinquin

            Claude Talpaert as Granpa Quinquin

            Sylvia Goudal as Post Office Customer

            Yael Boon as Angry Post Office Customer

            Christophe Rossignon as Brasserie Waiter

            Maryline Delbarre as Martine De Momo

            Guillaume Morand as Old Colleague of Philipe's

            Yann Kônigsberg as Jean's Salon Colleage 2

            Nadege Beausson-Diagne as Salon Employee

            Jean-François Elberg as Service Station Employee

            Eric Bleuzé as Man on Moped

            Bruno Tuchszer as Bregues Policeman 1

            Mickaël Angele as Bar Owner in Mining Town

            Patrick Cohen as Customer Thrown Out of Bar

            Louisette Douchin as Woman with Mussels

            Jean-Marc Vauthier as Miner

            Cedric Magyari as Miner

            Laetitia Maisonhaute as Jean's Secretary

            Suzy Pillou as Woman at Julie's Great-Uncles House

            Lorenzo Ausilia-Foret
            
See full cast