There’s bad movies and then there is SMOKING CAUSES COUGHING, which easily just scored the worst film I have seen all year…and I have watched some real crap. I knew going into this that Quentin Dupieux’s type of filmmaking isn’t for everyone but I have seen RUBBER and was a big fan of that one…but this film is basically unwatchable. The poster has a quote from John Waters (PINK FLAMINGOS) calling it one of the best films of the year, I should have taking that as a sign and steered clear from this trash.
Official Premise: A wildly inventive new comedy from Quentin Dupieux (RUBBER), SMOKING CAUSES COUGHING follows the misadventures of a team of five superheroes known as the Tobacco Force – Benzene (Gilles Lellouche), Nicotine (Anaïs Demoustier), Methanol (Vincent Lacoste), Mercury (Jean-Pascal Zadi), and Ammonia (Oulaya Amamra). After a devastating battle against a diabolical giant turtle, the Tobacco Force is sent on a mandatory week-long retreat to strengthen their decaying group cohesion. Their sojourn goes wonderfully well until Lézardin, Emperor of Evil, decides to annihilate planet Earth.
Trust me after reading that premise, you might be interested but let me warn you that this movie is that farthest thing from a superhero movie and doesn’t have any action outside of the opening scene. I would have loved to gone deeper into the powers of the Tobacco Force and their purpose instead we are left with them going on retreat and telling stories, which takes up most of the running time, and end up being pointless and rather boring. I wish I could have gotten my 80 minutes back.
1 out of 5 stars