The rare reboot pitch that that can actually be greeted with “this again!” rather than “this again?,” “Call My Agent! The Movie” makes sense of its rote title in two ways. First, and most obviously, it’s a feature-length spinoff of the hit French comedy series, which wittily satirized the national showbiz industry from the perspective of its beleaguered talent agents. But second, “the movie” doesn’t just refer to the one we’re watching, as this two-hour return tracks the tortured production process of the first film directed by the show’s heroine, now-former agent Andréa Martel (Camille Cottin). But if the point of view has changed, the comedy remains on-target: Fleet and fast-talking and packed, as ever, with Gallic industry in-jokes and celebrity cameos, Émilie Noblet’s film can hardly fail to please longtime fans when it hits Netflix on Sept. 10.
Nearly six years have passed since the fourth season of “Call My Agent!” concluded on something of a bombshell — as the Paris-based talent agency Agence Samuel Kerry (ASK) folded in a state of near-bankruptcy, with its employees scattered in various ambiguous directions. If not altogether unhappy, it was a destabilizing ending that hit pretty hard when the final episode hit in late 2020, given that COVID at that point had the global entertainment industry in a state of crippling uncertainty. So it’s comforting to see the old faces of ASK back with new career trajectories, even if — as fey former assistant Hervé (Nicolas Maury) makes clear in a catch-up intro delivered directly to camera — some are doing better than others.
