Lackadaisical doc fails to impress
Both Fugitive: Curious Case of Carlos Ghosn and The Big Conn are series that value style over substance. They take a long time to get to the good stuff, and unfortunately, they both come up short when it comes to being engaging and gripping entertainment. ..
But the film feels like it’s missing something, something that could make it stand out from the crowd.
The documentary spends a good chunk of time on Carlos Ghosn, but doesn’t really get to the crux of the issue.
Ghosn, the head of Renault and Nissan, is a man with an interesting history. He started out as a humble engineer and worked his way up the corporate ladder. He was eventually crowned head of both companies at the same time. However, his subsequent rise led to a spectacular downfall. Ghosn is now facing charges of financial misconduct and has been forced to resign from his positions at both companies. ..
Renault is under fire for allegedly causing the suicides of several employees, with one man spending 630,000 euros on his 60th birthday party at the Palace of Versailles. Ghosn’s impact on Japan has been controversial, with some saying that he has been a positive force while others argue that he is indignant and a complete pain. ..
Ghosn was arrested and held hostage by the Japanese after they accused him of spending company money on personal items. He unsuccessfully attempted to escape during his detainment. ..
The opening sequence of the movie is pretty incredulous, but the last part, in particular the escape, is reserved to the final 10 minutes of the movie like it’s an afterthought. It makes the opening sequence feel a little misleading because 30 minutes of the 90 minute run-time is almost exclusively dedicated to Ghosn’s rise to the top of Renault and Nissan, before any of the scandals of allegations. Annoyingly though, this is peppered with elements that feel like padding. Did we need a 4 minute section discussing Ghosn’s hair implants?
The film does a poor job of conveying the important events that transpired during Ghosn’s escape. The text at the end of the film gives the impression that these events are only minor spoilers for the rest of the story. This is not true, and makes the story feel less important.
The documentary is great but it does not have the storytelling power to be as endearing as it could have been. ..
