Rules of the Game (“Les Regles du Jeu”)

— A documentary focusing on four youth being coached through the job seeking process. The various scenes depict the frustrations and unrealistic expectations each person has as French employment consultants work with them to build their resumes, make initial contacts, and interview for a job. The film has just the right mix of humor, sympathy, and amazement at the process. In the end, I couldn’t help but question our emphasis on each individual’s “unique” strengths, our encouragement of everyone endlessly expressing themselves and celebrating their differences, and our encouragement of accepting only those rules that provide personal benefit. Maybe we should spend a bit more time on the benefits of being a small part of a larger group and realizing there are always people who are smarter, better looking, more fit, more popular, and more capable than we are, but refusing to fit in or accept rules isn’t always the best approach to dealing with the realities of life. No matter what, we need to help disenfranchised and unrealistic kids find jobs and become assimilated into the working world.

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[2014. 106 min. Directed by Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard.]
www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/rules-game-les-regles-du-706149