‘Smoking Causes Coughing’ Review: A Slight, Yet Hilarious Addition to Quentin Dupiuex's Unusual Filmography
Courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
A talking leather jacket, a housefly the size of a cocker spaniel, a killer rubber tire - all the left-field subjects at the heart of Quentin Dupieux's prolific filmography as one of France's most playful auteurs. In the past decade-plus, Dupieux has continued to astonish audiences with his distinctive ability to combine camp and horror to create works of unusual hilarity. After premiering at Cannes Film Festival last spring, Dupieux's latest movie Fumer Fait Tousser, or Smoking Causes Coughing, will finally hit theaters and on-demand on Friday, March 31. Poking fun at the aesthetics of a 1990s tokusatsu series like Power Rangers, Smoking Causes Coughing centers around ‘The Tobacco Force’ avengers, playfully creating a superhero film that evades all conventions typical of the genre.
At the opening of Smoking Causes Coughing, the Tobacco Force has just suffered a near-catastrophic battle with a gigantic turtle, forced to invoke the harmful ingredients of their namesakes to finally take down their reptilian foe. As a result, the five superheroes Ammonia (Oulaya Amamra), Benzene (Gilles Lellouche), Mercury (Jean-Pascal Zadi), Methanol (Vincent Lacoste), and Nicotine (Anaïs Demoustier) are sent by their mastermind leader Chief Didier - a drooly and horny rat - on a retreat to the forest to rediscover their lost sense of camaraderie. As the days pass, the Tobacco Force shares stories over a scenic campfire, slowly reigniting their bond. However, their optimistic experience is soon shattered by Lézardin, Emperor of Evil, who decides to annihilate Earth, "putting a sick planet out of its misery."
The farthest cry from the ideal director-for-hire on the next Marvel project, Dupieux uses Smoking Causes Coughing to almost create an ‘anti-superhero’ superhero movie. Straying away from enormous explosions and extended fight scenes, the film's sun-bleached visual sensibilities are contrasted with low-budget sets to mimic the look and feel of tokusatsu that harkens back to the television shows of any millennial's memories from the 90s. After the initial combat sequence, the rest of the battles are briefly showcased to emphasize the campfire storytelling, where most of the film's exposition is staged through three startlingly nihilistic tales. This departure from the action moving the film's narrative forward is the most significant act of rebellion to blatantly depict Dupieux's detour from making a traditional work within the superhero genre. By the film's cliffhanging finale, The Tobacco Force is uncertain of their efforts to save "Earth - the planet of crazy people," a conclusion viewers would experience when watching a cookie-cutter superhero blockbuster.
Courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
Campy, absurd, and crass, Smoking Causes Coughing leans into its low-budget production to create its funniest and most charismatic moments. The underground lair where the Tobacco Force retreats is hilariously sterile and cold, forming a vision startlingly opposing what one would think of for a relaxing weekend sanctuary, with its metal-topped beds void of blankets or pillows. Bypassing expensive CGI work, the character of Chief Didier - along with the aforementioned turtle villain and another in the form of a humongous cockroach - are all brought to life using puppetry. This silly employment of an archaic technology speaks to the film's humble spirit and successfully heightens Dupieux's vision for the film. Correspondingly, Smoking Causes Coughing's central performances are stilted in a way that services the movie's comedic tones and fantastical concepts.
Smoking Causes Coughing's most significant pitfall might surface for some when it comes to the film's short 80-minute runtime. With past works like 2019's Deerskin, Dupieux has proven that he can pack a punch in less than two hours, yet Smoking Causes Coughing's length feels like it lets the movie down. A decent portion of the film dedicates itself to envisioning the campfire stories told by its protagonists, which in turn disadvantages the narrative of the Tobacco Force that comes across like it has no ultimate arc. While this may seem like a mutiny against traditional filmmaking, choosing to focus on storytelling as the basis for many creative ventures, it does not perform in a way that boosts the movie's overall impact. With an extra 20 minutes added on, Smoking Causes Coughing could grow its narrative structure to create a more fully realized work.
Courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
While Smoking Causes Coughing may not be the most impressive of Dupieux's directorial efforts, the movie still serves as a fun addition to the filmmaker's colorful filmography. Any viewers exhausted by the uninventive exertions of the MCU can find much entertainment value in the French director's spoofy, anti-superhero endeavor. Although less substantial than his previous films, Dupieux's idiosyncratic creative sensibilities are still blatantly noticeable in Smoking Causes Coughing. After its world premiere at Cannes last year, the film also made a splash for genre-loving audiences at Fantastic Fest and AFI Fest. Magnolia Pictures has North American distribution rights for Smoking Causes Coughing and will release it in theaters and on demand Friday, March 31.
3.5/5
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