A Meeting Neither Man Expects
The story begins with a nighttime police chase through Paris. Driss drives Philippe’s Maserati at high speed, claiming that his quadriplegic passenger urgently needs hospital care. The officers are fooled, and Driss escapes. The film then returns to the events that led there.
Philippe is a wealthy quadriplegic man whose wife has died. He interviews caregivers with his assistant Yvonne. Driss, who has no real interest in the job and has served six months in prison for robbery, wants only a document proving that his application was rejected. Philippe sees something unusual in him: Driss does not pity him. He hires him on trial.
Driss learns to help Philippe with every aspect of daily life, often in unconventional ways. Their relationship gradually becomes a friendship. Philippe opens Driss to classical music, opera, modern art, and painting. Driss, in turn, brings humor and popular music into Philippe’s elegant household, including Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland” at a classical concert.
Driss encourages Philippe to pursue Eléonore, a woman he knows through letters, but Philippe fears her reaction to his disability. When Driss’s cousin needs help with a gang-related problem, Philippe releases Driss from his duties. New carers fail to restore Philippe’s spirits, so Yvonne calls Driss back.
Driss takes Philippe to the seaside and quietly arranges a meeting with Eléonore. The film closes by showing the real men who inspired the story: Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and Abdel Sellou, still close friends.