Une époque formidable...

A fortysomething executive is brutally fired. Before he fully understands what happened to him, he's on the street, and finds himself sharing the plight of a bunch of homeless people : how to find food, how to find shelter, how to beg... It could be dramatic, or even tragic, but it's a comedy. It's not a totally new territory (`Trading places', with Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd has been there before, for instance, and we can also think about Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life"), but it's still a rather sensible movie that manages to keep the good balance between the funny situations and the much less funny ones. Also, and very fortunately, it is not too overtly moralistic or sentimental. Life is rough is the street and the social commentary isn't very optimistic. The movie title, "Une époque formidable", can be translated as "It's a wonderful Life", but there's a much bitter edge to it.