Reviews & Ratings for
Ménage More at IMDbPro »Tenue de soirée (original title)

18 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
A strange brew, 6 May 2000
Author: damnjones from England

With Tenue de Soiree, Blier is once again investigating male insecurity and men's relations with other men. Essentially a remake of Les Valseuses, this film quickly removes the presence of a woman (Monique) to leave the way clear for Bob's seduction of Antoine. A complex film, part crime comedy, part transvestite film, Blier seems to lose his way at the midpoint and the ending seems tacked on. Depardieu and Blanc in particular are excellent, but the script lets them down. A homophobe becomes a fully dressed transsexual in about 90 minutes, hardly realistic and the misogynistic tone of the film can be draining. A useful companion piece to Les Valseuses, but it is only half the film that Les Valseuses was in 1974.

6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
diverting and energetic entertainment, 13 December 2007

Author: leslieann-1 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

the trick of this film is the seductive power of the swaggering, beefy and sexy character, Bob - played as no one else could, by Depardieu. picking up a quarrelling couple in a bar, he makes a play for both and succeeds with both, as he succeeds with us, reestablishing their lives, closer to his anarchic soul's path. they rob with him, are both seduced by him, and set up a menage a trois with him. he seduces us too to the appeal of this life.

we are attracted too - that street life that Depardieu's characters in many films seem to live successfully, and freely, appeals to the freedom we long for. but, yes, there is a price to pay in all those films and in this one too - but here, the price is so much fun...

a man they are robbing pulls a gun on Depardieu's character, insisting he make love to his wife in front of him, and they talk their way out; and by the end of the film, in order to pay the bills, Depardieu and his now fully dragged up friend, husband of the couple, sell themselves as prostitutes.

by the time we get to that, however, we are outside the boundaries of identification - they are cartoon characters, they don't care, and we no longer care. it is amusing, but the story had finished earlier when they set up house, and Depardieu acts like a typical male, no matter that his partner is male too. (they tolerate the woman in their home because she has no where else to go}: he demands dinner and cleanliness in the home, on time and when he wants it; he despises the tears shed in response to his abuse; the three have come full circle - relentless badgering between them (the two men, a couple, now ignore the woman)and dissatisfactions similar to what we began with.

the drag scenes at the end are tacked on for a bit of fun...it sort of flags. are we to think that by dressing as women they have degraded themselves? or is the lesson that this milquetoast male does always attract this kind of badgering? or that relationships - male and male; male and female; always devolve to this one, where one person is in charge of the other? who knows? but it is sure fun getting there. it will get you thinking while you laugh. great writing and superb comic acting.

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