Les Tuche 2 : Le Rêve américain (2016)

On the campus of the University of Los Angeles, Donald meets Jennifer, the daughter of the famous American financier Ron Carrington. He really likes her, and the feeling seems to be mutual. Impressed by a family so different from his own, Donald feels compelled to lie about the Tuche family, whom he is a little ashamed of, convinced that the two families will never meet. When they meet, Ron tells Donald that he no longer wants him to see his daughter, believing he is not up to the Carrington family’s standards. They then play a game of chess, and Donald impresses Ron, who reconsiders and takes him under his wing, offering him a place in Epsilon, a very prestigious fraternity that Ron himself belonged to. Donald tells the Tuches that he wants to extend his stay, so they plan a surprise and travel all the way to Los Angeles for his sixteenth birthday without telling him. They land in the United States in Kansas City. Cathy has planned a surprise for Jeff: they are going to visit the filming location of his favorite TV series, Little House on the Prairie. To get there, they rent a gigantic motorhome. But once they arrive, Jeff loses his wallet without noticing, and it contains his 15 bank cards. They need to refuel their vehicle, but after filling the tank they realize they have no way to pay. The attendant, who is not inclined to offer credit, keeps the motorhome until the Tuches receive their replacement cards and can pay. Stranded in the American countryside, they take part in games at a fair to raise the money they owe the attendant. In the end, Grandma Suze wins a vodka-shooting contest, allowing them to get back on the road. After they stop for the night and are about to set off again, the family is surprised to find Native Americans near the motorhome. As they try to make themselves understood, they discover that Grandma Suze speaks the same language as the Sioux tribe. They are then welcomed as guests. After this long detour, they arrive outside Donald’s campus, where he is not as pleased to see them as they had expected. He eventually admits to his lies and explains what he told the Carringtons. He said that Jeff was a renowned plastic surgeon who owned several clinics and that his family was rather upper-middle-class. He concludes by saying that he is having lunch with the Carringtons the next day and will set the record straight about his family. The Tuches are disappointed to have embarrassed their Coin-Coin, but will do everything they can to get him out of trouble: they will do their best to fit the characters Donald described and turn up unannounced for lunch at the Carringtons’ home. Despite a few blunders, Jeff and Cathy manage to fool the Carringtons completely. Ron uses the meal to propose a toast to Donald and announces that he has been accepted into the Epsilon fraternity for the next four years. The Tuches then decide to look for a house near L.A. so they can stay and live with Donald. They find a property, and Jeff even buys a plastic surgery clinic in Beverly Hills. Meanwhile, Stéphanie is spotted as an actress by a star agent, who leads her to imagine a career in Hollywood. Jeff is very busy with his clinic, while Cathy grows closer to their Québécois neighbor, Roger, since he does not work and regularly comes to help her at home. The two of them join a country-dancing club, and their instructor suggests they enter a competition in Las Vegas reserved for married couples. They agree to pretend to be a couple. As for Wilfried, he discovers he is gay after being attracted to Juan, his parents’ gardener. Before their dance competition, Roger tries to express his feelings to Cathy, but she stops him and says she no longer wants to go to Vegas with him, so as not to hurt Jeff despite his absences and lack of attentiveness. In the end, feeling too neglected, Cathy contacts Roger again, and the two of them leave for Las Vegas. She even leaves Jeff a farewell note. Meanwhile, at his fraternity, Donald realizes that Ron has lied to him and that Epsilon is only concerned with money and does not align with his ambitions for world reform. He confronts Ron, who reveals that he knew all about the Tuches and saw Donald as a potential ruthless businessman, capable of disowning his family to achieve his goals. Stéphanie realizes that her agent has also led her on and only sends her to second-rate auditions. The Tuche children receive a message from Cathy explaining that she has left, and Jeff decides to go with his children to find her in Vegas in a Renault 21 Nevada, but the car breaks down as soon as they reach the state of the same name. Fortunately, they are given a ride to their destination by some Amish people. They find Cathy and Roger during their performance, which earns them a place on the competition podium. After the show, Jeff and Cathy reunite and make up. Wilfried takes the opportunity to come out and announce his marriage to Juan. This news does not delight Jeff, who even faints. Jeff wakes up in his bed, with Cathy at his bedside. She tells him that it is not a nightmare: he thinks that Will is going to marry Juan in his nightmare, so he wants to oppose their union, but Cathy talks him around, then gives him the address of the chapel where the ceremony will take place. Jeff is in a bar when Charles Ingalls talks some sense into him, after which Jeff heads to his son’s wedding. Everyone is thus reunited for the wedding, which is officiated by an Elvis Presley impersonator. Jeff and the billiards employees are in a bar. Jeff talks about losing his fifteen cards in his misadventure in Los Angeles, but one employee says that his father lost twenty cards. Not quite sure, Jeff checks by calling the employee’s father and making fun of him. George Diouf climbs onto a balcony and calls out to Stéphanie from there, trying to explain himself about everything that has happened since the beginning of the film, but the police intervene.