Such a frustrating disappointment

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is my wife & my favorite comedy ever. Danny boon has directed some side-splitting comedies in the past, but this is his joint best alongside "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis"...in our opinion. I like the fact that there is no sexism, no nudity, no crudeness - just laugh-out-loud comedy at its best. It addresses the issue of racism in such an unpretentious way - and it gets the message across so well. All the acting is great - but particularly watch out for Zoé Félix who moves from depressed cannot-possibly-be-pleased wife to the opposite slowly over the film in an almost unnoticed way since she does not play a lead role.This film is one of the very few that I have seen more than once. Enjoy!

Humor is a funny thing ... especially when it's a movie coming from France and has Danny Boon starring in it. Of course you might have an aversion to the guy (which would be unfortunate), otherwise you might be delighted watching him, even in the craziest situation, because he can even pull those off.The plot is not that complicated, patrolling the "border", making sure nothing illegal happens, but the situations that ensure due to characters decision and the consequences are really funny. Of course they could also be tragic at times, but this is not a drama and it is made clear very early on ... which should also be an indicator if this is a movie you'll enjoy to watch or not

Given the commercial and critical success of director Dany Boon's earlier film Welcome to the Sticks, it is peculiar that his next project, Nothing to Declare, endured a straight-to-DVD release in France. This is despite its superb sense of humour, engaging interplay between characters and generally fun, light-hearted feel. The story, set in 1993, centres on the racist, trigger-happy Belgian Ruben (Benoit Poelvoorde), who is paired up against his will with Frenchman Mathias (Boon) in their effort to police the Franco-Belgian border. Compounding the strenuous partnership is the fact that Mathias is secretly dating overprotective Ruben's sister (Julie Bernard). Also intertwined in the story is the oafish Jacques and trying wife Irene, who turn to smuggling contraband between the borders to make ends meet, as well as the world's most incompetent drug ring and their short-tempered boss.Right off the bat, it's clear that Boon has a talent for ensemble directing. Although he and Poelvoorde share the lead, each fringe character enjoys ample screen time to tell their story and draw audience engagement, while all potential loose ends are appropriately tied up without leaving any individual's fate hanging in the balance.Humour is consistent throughout Nothing to Declare. Following a slow start, the film employs varying instances of physical, visual and verbal comedy, the latter of which is accentuated by the consistently tense, tight interplay between certain pairs of characters. The arguable highlight occurs as the criminals attempt to disguise their van as an ambulance for the purpose of drug smuggling, but honourable mentions must also go to Ruben's crude, xenophobic dad and the 'pimping-out' of Mathias's patrol car.Boon casually addresses the fine line between patriotism and racism with this film but, like all good comedies, it permits pure entertainment to take priority, without falling into the trap of becoming too preachy, political or divisive.*There's nothing I love more than a bit of feedback, good or bad. So drop me a line on [email protected] and let me know what you thought of my review. If you're looking for a writer for your movie website or other publication, I'd also love to hear from you.*

The simplest way to summarise this film is to say that it is the equivalent of a B-side of Bienvenu chez les Ch'tis. I found the latter film amusing, but there are many, many French films which do better at providing comedy and a sense of heart-warming, and so it is still a mystery to me how it became France's most successful film of all time. Rien à déclarer has basically taken the same idea (a comedy which focuses on the negative stereotypes of northern France/Belgium) and then repeated it - with less skill. There are amusing moments, but too few and too far between. They are strongly outweighed by overacted slapstick and jokes which are schoolyard style at best. It would possibly have worked better if it had been aimed at all of the family, so that the children could watch a film which uses such childish humour. However, they ruined this opportunity by including scenes of drugs, violence and even nudity, with plenty of swearing! A bizarre decision to exclude such an audience! If you are considering this one, but haven't yet seen Bienvenu chez les ch'tis, then I would strongly recommend you chose the latter. If you have seen the latter, and are hoping to find the same thing with this Dany Boon offering, I would suggest you will only be disappointed.