Keep an Eye Out (Au Poste!) is a black comedy about a man named Fugain who finds a dead body outside of his apartment building. Like any good citizen, he calls the police. Unfortunately, this leads to him being the prime suspect. It seems like a case of wrong place, wrong time, but things soon become much more complicated.
Director Quentin Dupieux is constantly throwing jokes at the audience. What prevents things from being overbearing is the variety of comedy. Keep an Eye Out is witty, filled with subtle jokes, and is unafraid to delve into slapstick or a bad pun. The script is filled with the type of humor that will have people asking if they heard right. Some jokes may take a while to sink in. This is a film that does not want to be taken seriously.
The pacing is interesting. Keep an Eye Out is barely over an hour. It also does not contain much action and is exposition heavy with the interrogation taking up much of the runtime. Conversely, it manages to move at a quick pace. Comments and quips are used at a rapid rate. What makes the writing stand out is nothing ever seems to be going too quickly. It is a Larry David-esque trick to pack so much into seemingly nothing.
Absurd is the best way to describe the plot. What starts as simple mystery soon introduces elements of the fantastic. There is no pretense or even good explanation for it. (The ending just leads to more questions.) Keep an Eye Out presents situations that the audience is expected to accept. The characters pretty much explain what is going on. While some will find it funny, others will feel this takes away from the story being told.
Keep an Eye Out (Au Poste!) is a film that is hard to describe. It is definitely a comedy and everything revolves around a mystery. Aside from that, it mixes genres in a bizarre and offbeat tale that will not appeal to everyone. To put it frankly, the whole thing is just too strange. But those who take the time to watch it, will get a kick out of it.
Keep an Eye Out comes to virtual and real cinemas March 5
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