This movie is a little disorienting at first because no one speaks for the first few minutes, and it plays like it would be a silent film. Gradually we're introduced to an assembly of characters, the principal one being a Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati),who we quickly learn is an odd duck in a technological world who simply stumbles along to get by. His sister (Adrienne Servantie) and brother-in-law Charles (Jean-Pierre Zola) own a garish modern home that would look odd even in an art deco milieu. It's the couple's intention to fit Hulot into a job at Charles' plastics company, as well as play matchmaker for the single gent. All plans go awry however, as Hulot epitomizes the concept of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The picture is colorfully whimsical, as well as delightful in it's absurdity, though I can see how other viewers might find it vapid and boring. Without knowing anything about director Jacques Tati (this was my first look at one of his works),one can ascertain a bit of Chaplin's sensibility, and with the character of Hulot, I found myself thinking of Peter Sellers' Chance in "Being There". My favorite scenes in the picture involved the sister's garden party set in the lavish yard with it's ugly fish fountain and bright green borders, with every guest straining to navigate the sidewalk path by stepping only on it's stone pavers. They fully illustrate the director's attempt to demonstrate the absurd by being absurd.

OVERRATED "ART FILM" ALERT: The following film is adored by sophisticated and "with it" film fans. The fact that the average person may find the whole thing unfunny and bland is due to their just not being smart enough to understand and appreciate this masterpiece.

Maybe this played a lot better in 1958, but I simply hated this long and slow and totally uninteresting film. While I have never been a fan of Hulot films, I do love international cinema (particularly French),so you can't blame me for being xenophobic or too "plebian to get it". It's just bad and about as funny as watching paint dry and I refuse to join the drones who praise it just because it received an Oscar.

Like other Hulot films, the movie is similar to episodes of Mr. Bean--but without the humor or feeling any connection to the main character. I love the Bean TV show and can appreciate this style of humor--it's just that, unlike many Frenchmen, I really think Jacques Tati wasn't at all funny and his Hulot character was vapid--plus the story developed so slowly that I found myself frustrated because the payoff never came close meriting the excruciatingly long wait. I know these are VERY harsh words, but I watched this film with two others and none of us laughed and we all hated the film. I've also seen several other Tati films and just can't understand all the attention his films receive. They are NOT in the same league as Chaplin despite me hearing this repeatedly and it's an insult to Chaplin's name to compare them.

The basic plot (and, frankly, there was almost no plot) consisted of Hulot visiting his sister and brother-in-law in their ultra-modern home as well as all the boring and mundane things happen to him along the way. I guess we were supposed to laugh at how silly this home was and how uncomfortable all their furniture was--I just didn't get it--THIS was the basis for a movie lasting more than two hours?! In many ways, this reminded me of another terribly unfunny comedy, CRACKING UP, when Jerry Lewis spent much of the film slipping on modern floors and off of modern furniture. It really was tiresome.

If you DO want to see an ultra-pretentious film that most normal people would hate, then this is your movie. Dull, dull and dismally dull from start to finish. This is not movie magic--and it looks like someone's dull home movies. I have a hard enough time enjoying home movies of people I know and love--so why would I ever want to see this?!

I knew about this French film when I saw it listed in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, I knew the title translated was "My Uncle", and I later found out it was the follow up to Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, from returning director Jacques Tati (Playtime). Basically Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) is the adored uncle of nine year old Gerard Arpel (Alain Bécourt),the nephew lives with his parents Charles (Jean-Pierre Zola) and Madame Arpel (Adrienne Servantie) in an automated and convenience filled ultra-modern house, which includes a fish fountain in the yard that must be turned on whenever important guests visit. Monsieur Hulot meanwhile lives in a smallish flat in an old building in an old neighbourhood, it may not be high in standard, but Gerard prefers to spend more time there, as her own house is not all that child friendly, the Arpels may be trying to mold M. Hulot more into the person they are used to in the upper class world. Charles offers his brother-in-law a job in the factory where plastics are manufactured, and Madame Arpel hosts a garden party, inviting him and trying to impress a few guests with her fountain and impressive home, but the bumbling nature of M. Hulot causes problems for their plan, but he may in fact help them in some way. Also starring Lucien Frégis as Monsieur Pichard Betty Schneider as Betty, Landlord's Daughter, Yvonne Arnaud as Georgette, the Housekeeper, Dominique Marie as Neighbour, Jean-François Martial as Walter and Adelaide Danieli as Madame Pichard. I will be honest and say that I didn't see much of a story going on, but I know that Tati gave a good performance as the nice guy that is clumsy, I did giggle at the obvious moments, like the water fountain being meddled with, and the luxurious setting looked cool and colourful, so it is a fun and watchable satirical comedy. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Very good!