Call my agent! the French TV series available on Netflix has reached its fourth season, which ends in a melancholy way and perfectly in line with all the previous episodes. Here is the review of Call my agent! 4
ORIGINAL TITLE: Ten percent. KIND: drama. NATION: France. CREATOR: Fanny Herrero. CAST: Camille Cottin, Thibault de Montalembert, Grégory Montel, Liliane Rovère, Fanny Sidney, Laure Calamy. time: 45 minutes per episode. DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix. EXIT: January 21, 2021.
Call my agent! title adapted into Italian from the French TV series Dix pour cent, is a real jewel of the French serial world. Born in 2015 by Fanny Herrero, comes to its fourth season which according to what was announced by the production and the actors was to be the last and the conclusion of the whole narrative. The most recent news from the network, however, suggests to the public that there is also the intention to produce a fifth season and a 90-minute film. At the moment, on Netflix, this last season is also available consisting of 6 episodes like the previous ones.
The plot | Review Call my agent! 4
The TV series tells the story of four agents from the world of cinema, Andréa, Gabriel, Mathias and Arlette, partners of the Ask agency, the second most important show agency in Paris, and their trusted assistants, Hervè, Camille, Noémi. The four agents have to deal every day with the most important actors and actresses of international cinema, who appear in each episode interpreting themselves. The peculiarity of this TV series is precisely that in each episode, the protagonists are joined by an internationally renowned cast.
In the fourth and most recent season, Ask finds himself in a very delicate situation, after the firing of Mathias and the consequent loss of his historical clients. Consequently, Andréa, the new general manager, is forced to make extreme choices, such as giving in to the competition, in order to try to acquire new customers. A very risky choice, which adds stress to his private life with the romantic relationship with his partner Colette in the balance and his daughter Flora to raise.
Andréa absolute protagonist | Review Call my agent! 4
Who drags this new season is precisely the character of Andréa, the absolute protagonist, in exponential growth compared to the beginning of the series. The passion for his work, his fire, his impetuous and sometimes irrational being, pierce the screen, reach the viewer to make him truly grasp the essence of a work of this type.. And in these episodes, we see Andréa tired, destroyed by the weight of a work that drains the energy and makes you lose contact with reality.
You, together with other colleagues, they are fearless knights, who play the role of babysitters, confidants, therapists, storytellers, towards international actors who, however, have no fear of unloading them when necessary. Because ultimately, it’s just a job and when it mixes with passion, that’s where the problems begin.
In the midst of these problems, Andréa does not give up: she tries to hold on to her clients and keep the mood of her partners and colleagues high, fighting tooth and nail until, however, she slows down and he realizes that perhaps in his life, for the cinema, he has sacrificed too much. And right next to the growth of his character, there is also that of all the others, like Mathias himself, who decides to go back to being a human being and put aside the cynical bargainer he has become over the years. The perfect writing of the characters is what once again confirms the strength of the series: each character changes, in a way that is consistent with his own personality and experience over the course of the episodes. The characters of Call my agent! are realistic, as are the interactions between them, short, direct dialogues, which are modulated between intensity and witty irony.
Sigourney Weaver and Jean Reno for a great style closure | Review Call my agent! 4
In case this is really the last season, the production has tried to close it to the best and it is understood not only for the choices of the script, but also for the choice of the celebrities as customers of Ask. This season we see among the many, Sigourney Weaver, Mimie Mathy, Sandrine Kiberlain, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Josè Garcia, Muriel Robin, Jean Reno, who put themselves completely at the service of the series and its narrative language.
As always happened, these great movie stars intervene in the episodes giving great interpretations, putting himself out there and making fun of himself, without brakes: Sandrine Kiberlain is a bored actress who seeks new stimuli in stand up comedy and is mocked by Muriel Robin for not having a sense of humor, Mimie Mathy acts like a super diva, Sigourney Weaver comes straight from the United States for a beautiful episode which overturns the gender stereotype in the world of cinema. Praiseworthy interpretations that also make us understand how difficult the work of the protagonists is, surgical against the desires and whims of the big stars.
Some screenplay smears | Review Call my agent! 4
Despite these laudable aspects, Call my agent! 4 some small smudges leave it, especially in the script. The last season starts rather laboriously, with a narrative slowness that had not been seen in previous seasons. Over the course of the episodes, approaching the third, however, a horizontal plot begins to emerge, due to the arrival of the character of Elise Formain, agent of Star Media, Ask’s number one rival. And with her, the intrigues, the lies, in power games return, even if they are immediately cut short by the season finale and not very detailed.
A flaw that is justified by wanting to focus on the characters, their personalities and the context in which they are. And the context is represented by a photograph that gives a lot of emotional intensity to the narrative. Paris is always in the background to accompany the protagonists in their difficulties and the close-ups remind us that we are facing a TV series that wants to talk about cinema as art.
Conclusion
And the choice of photography reminds us of another great protagonist of the series: melancholy. The melancholy of the characters, of their lives stuck in an alienating and stressful job, is what in a very coherent way accompanies the story towards the last episode. A bitter end of the season, as melancholy as a punch in the stomach and so well packaged it just confirms Call my agent! like a great, unmissable TV series. A series recommended for those who love the world of cinema and what lies behind it and who wants to be overwhelmed by a bittersweet story, which like life itself does not always have the perfect happy ending.
Points in favor
- Realistic characters
- Photography
- The dialogues
- The acting
- A perfectly melancholy ending
Points against
- Screenplay not very focused in the first episodes