Veteran French actress Isabelle Huppert shines as Patience Portefeux in Jean-Paul Salomé’s Parisian nail-biter, Mama Weed.
Patience wearies of her job translating statements and recordings made during drug arrests, “all to send kids to get radicalized for three grams of hash,” she tells her boss and confidante Philippe (Hippolyte Girardot).
When the son of her mother’s caretaker is targeted in a drug investigation, Patience manages to redirect the 1.5-ton hash shipment from Spain and then collects the stash for herself. Thus, begins a cat-and-mouse game between Patience, who wears a hijab as a disguise, her hash clients – two dimwitted dealers named Scotch and Cocoa Puff – and Philippe.
Using her police and language skills, as well as her trusty K-9 dog, she sneaks around town making dangerous moves, earning the Mama Weed moniker.
The comic side of the story paints Patience as a queen-pin like Tony Montana in Scarface, complete with hip-hop scoring. But she’s more like Super Woman, ducking away to make quick costume changes.
By the end, Patience finally takes a hit off what's likely a hash-tobacco joint, satisfied with a job well done.
Watch Mama Weed at Prime and YouTube.
