The French series Call My Agent! became an international Netflix hit after its debut in 2015. Now, five years after the fourth and final season, the ensemble has returned in a feature-length continuation Call my Agent! The Movie. With the fourth season of the series finishing up in late 2020, it’s long been rumoured that perhaps there would be an extra season added. Running for approximately two hours, Call My Agent! The Movie reunites the former ASK team for one more crisis. The result is an affectionate but uneven reunion: enjoyable for viewers who miss the ASK team, though not quite substantial enough to justify the long wait.
The seven principal ASK characters return for the film. Five years after we left them, Mathias (Thibault de Montlembert) and Camille (Fanny Sidney) have established their own agency, Agence CAM. Hervé (Nicolas Maury) is still pursuing his acting career, Noémie (Laure Calamy) is a successful television producer, and Andréa (Camille Cottin) is preparing to direct her first film. Gabriel (Grégory Montel) is still working for the rival Starmedia with Élise (Anne Marivin), the villain who helped bring about the destruction of the former ASK agency. Arlette (Liliane Rovère) has retired.
Joining the returning cast are Vincent Macaigne, who plays a last-minute replacement for Andréa’s leading man, and Laetitia Casta, who plays the female lead in Andréa’s film. Devoted viewers of the series may wonder whether Sofia Leprince, ASK’s former receptionist and Gabriel’s former girlfriend, or Hicham Janowski, the agency’s former head, will appear. Neither returns in the film.
Although the original seven characters have moved on to separate projects, Andréa’s film unexpectedly brings them all back together. After Mathias’ scheming and meddling causes Andréa to lose her key actor, Laurent Lafitte, she scrambles to find a replacement and hires Noémie as her new producer, who scoops up Hervé along the way. Finding a new actor means Andréa must bury her grudge against Gabriel, who is the agent representing the new leading man—one of only two potential options available at such short notice. Camille, now an agent in her own right, slips back into her old role, helping Andréa when things go wrong.
The film takes time to settle into its rhythm. In the first part, some of the comedy feels forced, particularly Laure Calamy’s performance as Noémie. Calamy has already demonstrated, both during and since the series, that she is a versatile actor capable of handling comedy and drama. Noémie is naturally an over-the-top character—bubbly and perpetually over-excited—but here the performance sometimes feels pushed beyond the character’s usual energy. Hervé’s meltdown is similarly recognisable as one of his typically dramatic moments, although it also feels overdone.
© Christophe Brachet/Netflix
One of the elements that made the series such a success was the real-life actors around whom each episode was based. While Vincent Macaigne and Laetitia Casta play the two principal actors in the film-within-the-film, we’re not sure that they have the star power that audiences were expecting. That said, it is the seven former ASK agents and staff members audiences have returned to see.
Hollywood cameos are interesting choices in a series that was known for featuring a real-life French star as the client for each episode, with the exception of Sigourney Weaver and Monica Bellucci. George Clooney of course has connections to France and to Camille Cottin, having starred in Nespresso commercials with her. Eva Longoria was an interesting choice, but she was also in the Nespresso commercial with the two of them. We’re unsure whether these Hollywood cameos were intended to bring new English-speaking audiences to the film but we don’t think that they would be enough to hold the interest of someone who isn’t familiar with the original series.
It’s nice to see the main cast back together for the film, and there is plenty of nostalgia in watching these familiar characters five years on. But as with any extra season, sequel or comeback, sometimes you need to ask whether it was worth returning. In the case of Call My Agent! The Movie, the answer is that while it hasn’t ruined what came before, we’re not sure it is enough to satisfy fans who have been waiting for its return.
Ultimately, Call my Agent! The Movie is a pleasant nostalgic trip down memory lane for fans of the series but will have less appeal for those unfamiliar with it. It’s watchable, and great to see the characters five years on but we wanted more.
3.5 CROISSANTS
Call my Agent! The Movie is available to stream on Netflix.
