The Valet (2006)

Needing something lightly comic, Veber was my man.His "The Closet" was trivial, but few trivial things are amusing and fondly recalled. Here, with a different actor, is the same character with much the same quality. I won't bother you with the story. It doesn't matter. What matters is the way the humor is designed. Essentially all the humor is in the lines. There is no physical comedy here and almost no visual comedy. It is mostly in the dialog. Here is the trick: where other comedy is episodic and/or depends on a zany pace, this has pretty much a normal world, and normal pace. You cannot read the warning signs that a joke is coming. It could appear at any moment, and does from the very beginning. So very early in the game we are trained to engage ourself very closely and pay attention. This is painless because the world we invest in is so light. We need erect no barriers. Because we open ourselves so, we anticipate what might be funny, investing in the possibility. The form of the thing enlists us in making funny.This is easy to test. I believe it to be true, and honorably delicate in the way it helps us live.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

The story of 'La Doublure' is far from original but even otherwise, the story is contrived due to Veber's sloppy writing. The characters are half baked, especially Emilie who at one moment shows no sign of having any romantic feelings for François but the next moment she's completely jealous when learning about his involvement with a supermodel. The only things working for this film are the comedic situations and this is largely due to the actors. Gad Elmaleh and the sensual Alice Taglioni have a good chemistry and I enjoyed their scenes together. Daniel Auteuil is funny too as the adulterous businessman. Kristin Scott Thomas plays her part with ease. Virginie Ledoyen suffers from poor characterization. The whimsical soundtrack works well and the French streets are an extra treat to watch. 'La Doublure' required more development and more than 85 minutes running time as it appears very rushed through but for a few laughs it's quite an okay fair.

For centuries the French have had the market on light, elegant, stylish, fluffy and tasty comedy, both in the theater and on film. Unfortunately THE VALET (LA DOUBLURE) doesn't rise to those standards. Though written by Francis Veber, who gave us the 'La Cage Aux Folles' series and 'La Placard', seems to understand the genre as well as anyone, the script for this much-used story is bland and lacks the sparkle and inventiveness of Veber's successes.The tale is one of marital infidelity: a wealthy man Pierre (Daniel Auteuil) is married to elegant and intelligent Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas) and having an affair with top model Elena (Alice Taglioni) for two years. Elena is demanding Pierre divorce his wife or she will leave him and Pierre fears the financial repercussions of divorce. Enter a simpleton valet François Pignon (Gad Elmaleh) who is hopelessly in love with bookstore owner Émilie (Virginie Ledoyen), the daughter of his father's strange physician who is more concentrated on salvaging her business than on paying attention to François's romantic overtures. Accidentally François walks past Pierre and Elena on the street, is captured by the tabloids, and when Christine sees the picture the infidelity is questioned: Pierre seeks his lawyer's advice and the tow plot to have Elena live with François to foil Christine's suspicions. Of course the loser François and the gold digger Elena learn from their roles and the story grinds to a rather silly ending.The cast is excellent but just doesn't ignite sparks on the screen. We are left with characters for whom we have little sympathy, and where is comedy if we cannot find at least one player to support? It is a pleasure to see the beautiful Kristin Scott Thomas toss off a French role with such aplomb, but the talents of the others rarely rise above the mediocre - and that is amazing considering the quality of the cast. A disappointing film. Grady Harp

This film is hilarious. The set up is a bit unbelievable, but the actors make it work - and mostly believably. The model in the film is refreshingly genuinely nice and not a caricature of a "supermodel." The depth of the main unwitting character, the valet himself, is a bit lacking - but hey, he is charming, as is the rest of the cast. Besides, since he is lovesick, perhaps his lack of depth is at least understandable. The feel of the movie is also quite uplifting - the bad guy loses in the end, and the good guys win. The ride is just fun, and filled with twists and turns, most of which the audience gets to be in on. The only character that was TOO shallow was the valet's girlfriend - she just didn't seem to be worth all the fuss, to me. I don't understand the PG-13 rating - it is not vulgar nor is there any nudity.