Available to stream on Netflix from today is the French drama-comedy, Gold Brick (aka Cash). The movie – written and directed by Jérémie Rozan – stars Raphaël Quenard, Igor Gotesman, Agathe Rousselle and Antoine Gouy, and tells the story of a warehouse worker who steals from his employer.
In the film, Daniel Sauveur has lived in his home town all his life, where he has grown up with a deep-seated dislike for the Breuil family. The Breuils come from money, are well known within the community, and have set up a perfume distribution business in the town, which essentially has links to all other businesses in the area.
Despite Daniel’s dislike of the Breuil clan, in order for him to secure employment he has to accept he will be working for the Breuils, one way or another. This leads him to take a job at the distribution centre, where he is responsible for packing orders.
However, within days of Daniel starting his new job, the head of the Breuil family dies, leaving his son Patrick to take over the company. With Patrick wanting to get all of his employees on board this new change in ownership, he gifts everyone at the distribution centre a box of ‘Gold’ perfume as a thank you for all their hard work.
Dismissing the gift as a cheap token and nothing more, Daniel lists the perfume on an online website for €50 so he can make some money from it. He expects there will be limited interest in the product, but quickly discovers that €50 is seen as a good price for this premium perfume.
Realising he has access to a constant supply of the perfume through his work, Daniel devises a plan to steal more bottles so that he can sell them and make a side income. Roping in his best friend, Scania to help him with his money-making scheme, the pair get to work on smuggling bottles out of the warehouse.
However, while the scheme seems fool-proof and Daniel and Scania make a lot of money very quickly, things don’t always run smoothly. At every turn, the pair encounter new obstacles, which causes them to bring in more people as they expand the operation,
Quirky, well-written, and loaded with timely commentary, Gold Brick is a decent little drama about wealth and entitlement. The story is essentially a tale about one person trying to screw over another, with plenty of money at stake, and with everybody just as dirty or corrupt as the next.
From very early on in the film, it becomes clear there is no real hero in this tale, just a bunch of people out to make money. The Breuils are rich and arrogant, Daniel isn’t a fan, and he uses this as justification to steal from them.
Obviously his crimes make him no better than they are, and the film highlights the idea the ‘little guy’ can be equally as bad as the rich family. Effectively, it doesn’t matter who you are, or what money you have in the bank, it’s your actions that count.
But these actions form the backbone of this film, and allow for plenty of twists and turns. The strength of this movie lies in the way it continues to unfold, as Daniel recruits more and more people when his simple operation gets a little more complicated.
If I have an overriding criticism of this film, it’s that while I do think it is a good picture, I would like a lot more humour. I believe Gold Brick has the structure for a very funny comedy, and one that could introduce plenty of slapstick and whacky characters, but it doesn’t take up the opportunities.
Of course, this is clearly not the tone writer/director Jérémie Rozan is going for, but I can’t help but wish it was. As much as I found Gold Brick to be perfectly good stuff, with a strong script to back it all up, I can’t move out of the mindset that this film could and should be far, far funnier than it is.
I know it is sacrilege to say, but I almost envision this film getting a US remake at some point down the line, which leans into the more comedic nature of the premise. I’m not saying it would be better, but I can certainly see it happening, and I would at least be interested to view the outcome.
But putting the issue of comedy to one side, overall there is a lot to like in Gold Brick. The central premise is solid, and with a 90(ish)-minute runtime the film doesn’t drag out beyond its limitations.
Gold Brick has some interesting things to say about wealth, and the cast are all on top form. This movie marks the feature-film debut for Rozan, and I’d say it’s a pretty impressive start.
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