I'm not sure that in French "Grosse bêtise" refers to prison, as "Big House" can in English. The English title of the 2001 movie of that name, directed by Olivier Peray, "Breakin' Out," seems more informative to me. At that start a Customs vehicle is chaing one driven by the parents of 13-year-old Nicolas Guérin (Erwan Demaure). His parents are smuggling in drugs. His father dies in a crash and his mother, Laetitia (Isabelle Habiague), is jailed. 

She is likely to be sentenced to five years imprisonment, and Nicolas is taken in by the best foster parents I've ever seen in a movie, Bernard (Christian Crahay) and Eliane (Nathalie Willame) Delmas. Their 15-year-old daughter Elodie (Stéphane Caillard) is considerably less welcoming. Her boyfriend (from a very affluent family) is outright hostile.

Tanker, a North African (Ouassini Embarek, the moody but generous bricoleur of "Beach Café" and the romantic bank-robber of "Right Now," who also appeared speaking English in "The Good Thief") who meets Nicolas outside the prison and who takes on Elodie's bully boyfriend, becomes Nicolas's best /only buddy, and has the hots for Elodie. For Laetitia from a very secure prison she has not been tried and convicted, so is not eligible for a presidential pardon, Tanker's first suggestion).

I don't want to say anything about the subsequent ideas, which are astonishingly crazy and not only high-risk for Nicolas, but with considerable collateral damage, emotional and other. I am appalled by them and that Nicolas would dream them up (with some inspiration from Napoleon's 1815 escape from Elba, which his teacher is lecturing about in school).

The role performed by the very long-faced Arab French actor Ouassini Embarek, who is the player on the DVD cover is genial, as he was in "Beach Café," a petty criminal and something of a con man, but without the twisted mentalities of Nicolas and Elodie.
The worst does not happen, for which I was grateful, though I still thought the Delmases did nothing to deserve the betrayal of their trust by either their foster son or their biological daughter.

A 2003 film directed by Peray, titled "La vie quand meme" (Life After All) also dealing with youngsters (brothers, one 18, the other 11) coping with the loss of parents delusionally is also available here on DVD.

The Picture This! DVD has no bonus features other than trailers for their DVD releases of eight other European films, including Schizo.

©2010, Stephen O. Murray

Recommended: No