Francois Pignon (Gad Elmaleh) is a cash strapped parking valet who lives in a studio apartment with his friend and fellow valet Richard (Dany Boon). Following Francois' proposal being rejected by his crush Emilie (Virginie Leodyen), Francois inadvertently ends up in a photo with unscrupulous and unfaithful CEO Pierre Levasseur (Daniel Auteuil) and his supermodel mistress Elena Simonsen (Alice Taglioni) whom he repeatedly promises to leave his wife, Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas), for. When the phot of Pierre and Elena appears in the tabloids and catches the attention of Christine, Pierre makes an excuse that it is actually the blurred out man with whom Elena is having an affair. Seeking to avoid a messy and expensive divorce from his wife who owns the majority in his companies, Pierre has his lwayer, Foix (Richard Berry), track down and approach Francois and make a deal with him to live with Elena and pretend they are a couple which causes complications in Francois' life and misunderstandings aplenty.
2006's The Valet is at the time of the writing the final major release to be directed by noted French comedy staple Francis Verber (aside from a 2008 re-adaptation of Verber's "A Pain in the Ass" which appears to have not done well). The film features Verber's signature style and tropes and sees him reunite with a number of prior actors and comedians he worked with resulting in a comedy that doesn't have the scathing bites of Verber's work like The Closet or The Dinner Game, but is an agreeable light hearted farce with a protagonist you root for.
The centerpiece of the movie is unquestionably Gad Elmaneh who makes a likable underdog protagonist who's about as good natured and simple of a man as you can get. By happenstance Elmaneh's Francois just wanders into an elaborate farce involving spiteful rich and their extramarital affairs and when given the opportunity for any price he only asks for enough money to clear Emilie's debts on her bookstore. The relationship between Francois and supermodel Elena is quite sweet with Francois all too aware of the ridiculousness of the situation and treeting Elena more as a friend than a sex object as Elena is often all too used to. There's a very sweet friendship that arises from Francois and Elena's time together in the farce and it makes for a likable and lighthearted dynamic that's easy to root for. The supporting cast all have solid work with Daniel Auteuil having fun as a despicable and duplicitous billionaire who's riddle with a bad temper, jealousy and insecurity despite having as much power and money as he does and the mind games played on him by his cuckolded wife Christine are delightful scenes of beautifully cruel schadenfreude that's well in line with Verber's comic stylings. Not every gag works as there's a running gag with Michel Aumont's character The Doctor where he visitis patients only to give treatment to himself that's not all that funny, nor is the subplot with Richard's alcoholic mother particularly funny, but the movie's quick pacing and energy means we never lingered on failed jokes too often.
The Valet isn't the pinnacle of Verber's comedic work, but it's very good and pleasant viewing that makes for an agreeable sit. The movie has a solid ensemble who work well together and beneath the vindictive farce is a very sweet story that you can't help but like.
2006's The Valet is at the time of the writing the final major release to be directed by noted French comedy staple Francis Verber (aside from a 2008 re-adaptation of Verber's "A Pain in the Ass" which appears to have not done well). The film features Verber's signature style and tropes and sees him reunite with a number of prior actors and comedians he worked with resulting in a comedy that doesn't have the scathing bites of Verber's work like The Closet or The Dinner Game, but is an agreeable light hearted farce with a protagonist you root for.
The centerpiece of the movie is unquestionably Gad Elmaneh who makes a likable underdog protagonist who's about as good natured and simple of a man as you can get. By happenstance Elmaneh's Francois just wanders into an elaborate farce involving spiteful rich and their extramarital affairs and when given the opportunity for any price he only asks for enough money to clear Emilie's debts on her bookstore. The relationship between Francois and supermodel Elena is quite sweet with Francois all too aware of the ridiculousness of the situation and treeting Elena more as a friend than a sex object as Elena is often all too used to. There's a very sweet friendship that arises from Francois and Elena's time together in the farce and it makes for a likable and lighthearted dynamic that's easy to root for. The supporting cast all have solid work with Daniel Auteuil having fun as a despicable and duplicitous billionaire who's riddle with a bad temper, jealousy and insecurity despite having as much power and money as he does and the mind games played on him by his cuckolded wife Christine are delightful scenes of beautifully cruel schadenfreude that's well in line with Verber's comic stylings. Not every gag works as there's a running gag with Michel Aumont's character The Doctor where he visitis patients only to give treatment to himself that's not all that funny, nor is the subplot with Richard's alcoholic mother particularly funny, but the movie's quick pacing and energy means we never lingered on failed jokes too often.
The Valet isn't the pinnacle of Verber's comedic work, but it's very good and pleasant viewing that makes for an agreeable sit. The movie has a solid ensemble who work well together and beneath the vindictive farce is a very sweet story that you can't help but like.