A Parisian husband who is transfered to a town in north of France carrying a negative image about its people, but then he realizes the truth of his misperceptions.

The plot is kinda simple yet fun depicting stereotyping and friendship in a sweet and lovable way.

I really felt for the climax as I am one who is really attached to people and places. What helped more to enjoy WELCOME TO THE STICKS (BIENVENUE CHEZ LES CH'TIS) is the incredible work for the subtitles which captured the essence of scenes where different dialects have a role in the plot for non-French speaking.

I got the DVD of this movie as a birthday gift from some in-laws who watched it on an international plane flight and (for some reason), thought I would enjoy it. I mostly stick with Hollywood movies, so I had no idea what to expect from "Bienvenue a la Chtis", but I gave the DVD a spin over the holidays when things were slow...and I ended up truly enjoying the film.

Admittedly there isn't anything especially new about the premise of the film (story tellers have been riffing on the idea for decades in things like "Northern Exposure", "Doc Hollywood", and even the Pixar movie "Cars"),but these guys know how to put a film together - how to structure a story arc, how to write funny, amusing dialog (even in subtitles, the word play and the jokes about dialects were funny), and in general how keep things moving while still including plenty of telling details and charming character bits.

The cast is also very strong; there's a nice group chemistry evident in most scenes, and there isn't a flat tire in the bunch.

I still haven't been converted into a French cinephile, but I certainly liked this particular French film and I'm very glad I got a chance to see it.

A really, really charming film. Charming being the word for movies with really simple plots, very down-to-earth stakes, and the ability to leave you with a big G-rated smile on your face afterwards. If you like cross-cultural fish-out-of-water movies such as My Big, Fat Greek Wedding, you're going to love this story of a postmaster who gets reassigned to the apparently misunderstood (in many senses) northern region of France, and how lives change accordingly.

But what really impressed me the most were the subtitles. The English subtitles amazingly captured all the nuances of the convoluted wordplay that was obviously happening on screen. This becomes an even more impressive feat when you consider that much of the verbal fun of the movie comes from the various misunderstandings between the French-speaking lead character and the folks who speak in the northern provincial "Schticks" dialect. Because of this added layer of complexity, I realized that capturing these dynamics cannot be the product of any ordinary clerical translation job.

And it turns out I was right. I later read that the director, Dany Boon, actually took an active role in ensuring that all the subtitles for the different languages properly and lovingly reflected the nuances and intent of the on screen banter. With truly impressive results.

So kudos to Boon for paying attention to this particular detail. Oftentimes, foreign audiences miss out on much of the seeming in-jokes that movies play for their local audiences. "Schticks" made it a point to share its world with everyone else. Great job.