Robust (2022)

Written by CinemaSerf on July 28, 2022

Déborah Lukumuena is really quite good here as the wresting bodyguard assigned to look after the larger than life (quite literally) actor "Georges" (Gérard Depardieu) whose unreliable attitude to work is leaving him with debts, law suits and precious few options. The template for the story is quite good, and both leading roles have character to them, but somehow the whole thing just doesn't ignite. The story itself is an hybrid of quite a few similar themes with a dialogue that fails to impress. Lukumuena is quite a mean wrestler, but the familial sub-plots just clutter up the dynamic that is at it's best when it is just the two on screen. Even then it's still not especially engaging. Depardieu has a star quality, there's no denying that - but that is just not enough to raise this from mediocrity. Watchable, but equally forgettable - except, perhaps, for the odd looking fish!