The suburbs of Paris have proved to be breeding grounds for political unrest, as illustrated in Mathieu Kassovitz's amazing 1995 film La Haine, but a lesser known film is now available to U.S. videophiles that mines those suburbs for a more lighthearted treatment. Selected by the legendary Les Cahiers du cinema as one of the ten best pictures of 2000, Jean-Claude Brisseau's Workers for the Good Lord (Les Savates du bon Dieu) evokes comparisons to Godard and to Capra (punctuated with the sense of humor of the Coen brothers). It retains social commentary on the lower castes that ferment in the Projects with details from the potagonist's background and its anarchistic, Marxian Bonnie and Clyde style robbing spree through southern France.

Illiterate wanna-be race car driver (but real life mechanic) Fred (Stanislas Merhar) scrapes out a living with his wife Elodie (Coralie Revel) and infant daughter, but his immaturity and narcissistic nature have doomed the relationship. The same day Fred loses his job for head-butting his boss she flees to a better life as a model, leaving only a note behind stating starkly, "Maybe I never loved you." That doesn't stop Fred from irrational obsession; he goes ballistic and can only be calmed by his grandmother (along with a strong sedative). Frequently Fred fantasizes about Elodie as voiceovers repeat how "I run to her" as the filmmaker shows nude Eloise artistically posing on crushed red velvet.

Fred hooks up with a former flame Sandrine (Raphaele Godin) at her Postal clerk job, impulsively robbing it when an elderly man can't get a loan. Still in love with Fred, Sandrine joins him. They flee as fugitives to luscious landscapes in southern France, knocking off a string of small banks and liquor stores along the way—Fred fantasizing that he'll steal his way back to Elodie while Sandrine hopes that he'll get over his grief and return to her. Along the way they fortuitously join up with deposed African prince Maguette (Emile Abossolo M'Bo), who possesses fortune telling and shape-shifting powers that allow him to become the actualization of the promises of those notorious Nigerian spam campaigns.

A well-paced eclectic mix of surrealism and melodrama, this modern Robin Hood tale contains plenty of satisfying flavor for fans of French cinema. The location photography and naturalistic acting from the two lead characters evoke shades of the New Wave in this overlooked gem that is much stronger on character than message and plot.