The Big Hit: telling a tale as unexpectedly inspiring and interesting as only true stories seem to be, Emmanuel Courcol’s dramedy is in equal parts that and conventional. The story itself, the way the characters behave, and the way the story is told, all those things are pretty much exactly what one would expect them to be. Still, it is capably done and the text of the climatic presentation is beautifully written and read by Kad Merad. Merad plays the old actor trying to stage “Waiting for Godot” with prisoners, and he does well with the gruffiness and idealism. The ensemble that plays the prisoners with varying degrees of humour are all doing a good job and playing bad actors with the text, but their characters don’t go beyond each individual one-note. The film is capably shot by director of photography Yann Maritaud and edited by Guerric Catala.