There are a few films that find their most significant strength also being their biggest weakness, as is the case with Bye Bye Morons (French: Adieu les cons), a fascinating but flawed film by Albert Dupontel, who puts together a really compelling story, but seems to falter in one particular area: he doesn’t seem to know exactly what he wants this film to be. Looking at responses to the film since its release both in its native France and the rest of the global audience, it seems the audience is just as confused, with some referring to it as a broad farce, others a darkly comical satire, and the minority seeing it as a sobering drama with touches of light comedy to alleviate the burden of the difficult subject matter that doesn’t always lend itself to the kind of humour that the director seemed to be insistent on conveying here. Occupying several key positions on the film’s production, including directing and writing the screenplay, as well as playing one of the two leading roles, perhaps Dupontel was taking on too much responsibility, which distracted from his ability to see beyond the immediate situation, causing a lack of general consistency in both the story and the tone employed in telling it. This isn’t to imply that Bye Bye Morons is a waste of time, resources or talent (since it does have a lot of them all at its disposal), but rather a warning for those expecting some massively resounding piece of storytelling, since there is a massive likelihood of getting disappointed when you discover that this film is just a reliable, solid comedy that invokes a few serious discussions in between moments of unhinged eccentricity, which only makes the atmosphere all the more bewildering, but perhaps intentionally so.

There are many peculiarities at the heart of Bye Bye Morons, which starts with the title itself – despite the somewhat strange choice of name, the film is one about bidding farewell, in a variety of forms. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an entire story centred around a character doing their best to make amends prior to a major event, such as in the case of an imminent death (whether from disease, or by one’s one hand, which is essentially how the two main characters come to be acquainted). Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when one knows it’s going to be followed by a permanent change in a particular dynamic. Based solely on this very loose premise, it would be easy to mistake Bye Bye Morons for some overwrought drama about resolving tension and seeking out remnants of the past – and while this could’ve been a decent approach, the director is more intent on something slightly more simple, filtering it through the lens of a more upbeat comedy that has a sense of optimism surrounding the more bleak realities faced by these characters, who are confronted with some disconcerting challenges that test their resilience and ability to adapt to new situations. It would be unfair to suggest that a more experienced pair of hands could’ve crafted this premise into something more interesting, but Dupontel has had a great deal of experience on both sides of the camera, and the problems with the story are equal to the merits, since they come from the same source, being the product of a writer and director who clearly had many quandaries he was working through here – the premise is strong and has a lot of promise, so it really is only the execution that finds the film faltering – but only slightly, since there is still quite a bit of value in the film as a whole.

Dupontel made a strange decision in casting himself in the lead role, playing a character that seemed mismatched to what the film required from him as an actor. He’s not bad, just inconsistent with the rest of the performers, who are turning in quite strong work. Dupontel often distracts from the clever script he wrote, since he is often perceived as trying slightly too hard to solidify this character as someone realistic, which takes some of the more raw aspects of the story away in favour of a performance that isn’t sure if it should be pitched more towards the comedic or the dramatic. Mercifully, he is accompanied for much of the film by the brilliant Virginie Efira, who once again takes middling material and turns it into a very strong performance. She is someone who captures both the humour and pathos embedded in the film, and while she may not be necessarily challenging herself for most of the film, she still finds the nuance in a relatively simple character. The chemistry between the two leads isn’t as strong as it could be, since they are an unintentional example of the odd couple cliche, and we rarely feel much of a spark between them – we find that Efira actually manages to have a stronger connection with Nicolas Marié, who has a small but unforgettable supporting role as the well-meaning blind bureaucrat who is always on hand to help someone when they need it. Rather than noting the disparity between the two leading performances being an outright criticism, we have to wonder whether this approach was intentional, where two entirely incompatible people manage to still defy the odds and develop feelings for one another (even when the film didn’t benefit from shoehorning a romantic subplot into the story), or if it was just a result of a relatively inconsistent script that expected strong chemistry between the two leads, which isn’t always readily available, as made quite clear throughout the film.

Despite the effervescent tone, there’s a darkness that lingers over Bye Bye Morons, a bleak sense of discomfort that isn’t always welcome, but does do well in separating the more mindless comedic elements from the stark conversations the director seems to be continuously guiding us towards. The film has many of the most commons qualities of an outrageous romantic comedy – two characters that meet in unconventional circumstances (although in this instance, their meeting is quite unintentionally violent), a growing sense of companionship between them, and a gradual deconstruction of their budding relationship that eventually flourishes into love. However, it’s not the presence of these components that makes Bye Bye Morons so intriguing, but rather the fascinating ways in which it uses them. Taking two profoundly lonely characters that are quite literally at their wits’ end, and placing them across from one another could’ve resulted in one of two outcomes – either they become close friends that take on the institution in a bout of guerrilla-inspired rebellion, or they find themselves colliding, forced into combat with one another. Somehow, Dupontel manages to do both, often at the exact same time – it may lead to the character motivations being quite murky, and their actual intentions grow more bewildering as we venture deeper into their world, but we can’t resist the charms that come about through their burgeoning friendship. It almost seems like a shame that the film has to end on a vaguely romantic note (although the haunting final shot would lead logical viewers to avoid labelling it as such), since there was a lot of promise in just exploring the camaraderie between Jean-Baptiste and Suze. However, taken purely as what it is, Bye Bye Morons is still very much a worthwhile look into the lives of these characters as they make their way to the supposed end of it.

Bye Bye Morons is a film that takes its time to get to a coherent point, starting off as a meandering and often quite scattershot comedy that shifts between the two main characters’ perspectives, in a way that seems intentionally confusing. However, once it finds its stride and manages to effectively balance the two contrasting stories into a single narrative, the film becomes quite strong, and ultimately carries a lot of meaning, even at its most outrageous. It may be almost entirely anchored by Virginie Efira, who carries the film mostly on the strength of her performance, but Dupontel does warrant some credit in the capacity of at least writing her a great role, one that is so good that even his more prominent performance is lacking in comparison, while still being serviceable enough to make the film enjoyable. As a whole, the film does leave some space for improvement, and a lot is left to be desired, based on the promising themes that aren’t always benefitted by the film’s execution. Yet, the further we venture into this film, the more we see how it has nothing but good intentions – the moments of humour make us laugh, and the more heartbreaking sequences deliver an abundance of emotions without seeming heavy-handed. Ultimately, Bye Bye Morons isn’t a revolutionary film, and it often struggles to develop a consistent tone – but as a relatively straightforward comedy with hints of drama (or vice versa), it is just about as reliable as one could expect from the material, and we often find that in the more quiet moments, it is hinting at a degree of depth that we miss when taking a cursory glance, which only proves that there is more to this film than initially meets the eye.