Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Misadventures of Hedi & Cokeman’ on Netflix, A French Comedy Full Of Blunts And Tasteless Gags

The Misadventures of Hedi & Cokeman (Netflix) lives up to its title for international release, as the bumbling French twosome attempt various drug-dealing schemes in their search for baller status. There is more money, and there are more problems, as they get further and further afield from reality. Maybe they were high this whole time?

THE MISADVENTURES OF HEDI & COKEMAN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: To call Hedi (Hedi Bouchenafa) and Cokeman (Nassim Lyes) low-level drug dealers would be putting them at ground level. Example? Cokeman, whose preferred garb is a fur coat paired with tighty whities, dupes a rube into buying (and snorting) plaster dust, while Hedi is over in a more expensive Paris neighborhood slinging baggies of hash to the posh kids that are actually filled with dog crap. Nursing his swollen face from the fallout of that ruse, Hedi attends the wedding of his sister Zlatana, where he tells his partner in crime about the family’s long standing credo: they’re scammers at heart, and this ceremony is no different, with Zlatana only marrying uppity bakery mogul Arsene (Fred Testot) for his pastry money. Arsene also deals in illicit drugs, and the overbearing Zlatana forces him to take on her bumbling brother and his buddy as his newest weed dealers. Arsene takes one look at them standing outside the wedding chapel, with Cokeman still in his fur wrap and undies, and knows he’s made a terrible mistake.

Not only does this doofus duo manage to lose the product and proceeds of their first ten kilos of “Mojo Mango,” but they torch Arsene’s SUV in the process. Hedi and Cokeman laugh off the setback, as they do with all setbacks. Cokeman even laughs off the death of a flunkie at the hands of a blind thug with a bazooka who was actually gunning for him. They don’t just laugh. They laugh maniacally, derisively, almost violently. In the cartoonish funhouse of these Misadventures, spontaneous chortling contortions are a recurring motif.

With Zlatana forcing the pliant Arsene to keep Hedi and Cokeman supplied, the two build a new string of dealers: two inept university students; an aging stoner who lurks at the unemployment office; and a young artist who runs a collective. And with structural support from Hedi’s new squeeze Yvonne (Julie Ferrier), the crew actually starts to rake in some serious Mojo Mango moolah. Of course this success goes to their heads, and of course they screw it up, but with another bout of maniacal laughter, Hedi and Cokeman concoct a plan to corral enough weed from Arsene that they can continue their string even if Zlatana leaves him for a richer guy, which she’s totally planning to do. When the mogul, his thugs, Hedi and Cokeman and their idiot crew, and the drug squad cops on everyone’s tail finally go head to head to head, it’s an opportunity for demises and startling bloodshed played for broad humor. These guys are gonna laugh all the way to the gallows.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? A stoner comedy through and through, Hedi & Cokeman plows headlong through the trail of smoke left by Cheech & Chong and their fiberweed van in 1978’s Up In Smoke. Don’t forget about the Harold & Kumar films, either, speaking of duos. And in its most blunted approach to casual violence, including death, there’s a whiff of the blood-spattered Rogen/Franco/McBride marijuana rollercoaster Pineapple Express.

Performance Worth Watching: As the bonkers duo Hedi and Cokeman, Hedi Bouchenafa and Nassim Lyes bounce arch insults and brotherly camaraderie off of one another in equal measure, and often in the same burst of argumentative dialogue. Forever sabotaging their own schemes, and consistently skating away without consequence, the two hate on each other as much as they’re made for each other.

Memorable Dialogue: Hedi & Cokeman introduces its sudden turn to a truly absurd third act with Fred Testot histrionically breaking the fourth wall as his character Arsene attempts to manage the onscreen situation. “Why did I agree to do this shitty movie?” Testot rants. “With these stupid lines that I don’t understand?” His eyes gaze out, and seem to catch the camera. Testot wavers between Arsene. “What?! We’re doing something funny! What we’re doing is funny! IT’S FUNNY! Fuck!”

Sex and Skin: Nothing direct. Lots of ribald behavior referred to in the margins, however.

Our Take: This drug-fueled romp was apparently based on an ongoing web series entitled En Passant Pecho, so it’s possible that with a lengthier introduction to the outsized antics and coarse behavior of Hedi and Cokeman, Misadventures wouldn’t feel as abrupt. Going in blind, or at least in a purple haze, it takes a little while to assimilate yourself to the film’s twisted take on reality. There’s real chemistry between Bouchenafa and Lyes, though, even as they light into each other with insults, and as the film’s Mojo Mango-fueled center section settles into gear, it’s only the dynamic between its leads and a few decent jokes that keep it anywhere close to a narrative median strip. Most of the time, this thing is veering all over the road between typical drug movie antics — the getting of the weed, the slinging of the weed, the smoking of the weed, the losing of the weed — and sudden slapstick violence. (Cokeman may or may not die at least twice.) There’s also the matter of its penchant for casual racial and cultural stereotyping. Still, if we’re supposed to consider that the events at the core of Misadventures of Hedi & Cokeman might be occurring inside one particularly crazy weed bender, then its abrasive cartoonishness plays a little better.

Our Call: STREAM IT, but only if you’re in the mood for a darkly comic jaunt through the drug business, with some characters loudly professing their deviant sexual behavior, others remaining undeveloped beyond shouting and slapstick, and a lot of rapid-fire French slang. Wesh, es-tu ope?

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges

Watch The Misadventures of Hedi & Cokeman on Netflix