La doublure (2006)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Francis Veber

Writer:

Francis Veber (writer)

Release Date:

29 March 2006 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A new comedy from the writer/director of The Closet and The Dinner Game

Plot:

A porter and a top-model have to pretend to be a couple in order to salvage a CEO's marriage.

Plot Keywords:

Valet | Supermodel | Couple | Ceo | Model

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Gad Elmaleh	...	François Pignon
Alice Taglioni	...	Elena Simonsen
Daniel Auteuil	...	Pierre Levasseur
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Christine Levasseur
Richard Berry	...	Maître Foix
Virginie Ledoyen	...	Émilie
Dany Boon	...	Richard
Michel Jonasz	...	André Pignon
Michel Aumont	...	Le médecin
Laurent Gamelon	...	Paul
Patrick Mille	...	Pascal Bouliveau
Michèle Garcia	...	Louise Pignon
Philippe Magnan	...	Berman
Jean-Yves Chilot	...	Hervé
Irina Ninova	...	Marie

Also Known As:

The Valet (International: English title) (USA)
La boulette (France) (working title)
Una Top model nel mio letto (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language.

Runtime:

France:85 min

Country:

France | Italy | Belgium

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | France:U | USA:PG-13 | Romania:A.G. | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:AL | South Korea:12

Filming Locations:

Boulogne-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company:

Gaumont

Trivia:

Near the end, the father of François Pignon tells him that he is invited to a dinner to talk about his corkscrews collection. This is a reference to another Francis Veber movie, Le dîner de cons (1998), in which a likable idiot (also called François Pignon) is invited to a dinner on the pretext of talking about his match constructions.

Goofs:

Continuity: Both Francois and Emilie purposely avoid going to Luigi's for lunch, but run into each other at another restaurant. However, in the next scene, Elena asks Francois "Did I upset the girl at Luigi's?"

Movie Connections:

References Le dîner de cons (1998)

Soundtrack:

No particular place to go

Not Veber's best, but still not bad

This movie, by the maker of The Dinner Game, La Cage Aux Folles, and some other fantastic comedies is a well-executed film, if one can swallow some, at least for me, unreasonable premises. The story is that a very wealthy business mogul (Daniel Auteuil, perhaps a bit too manic as Pierre Lavasseur) has been caught by his wife (Kristin Scott Thomas very capably playing a very capable co-CEO named Christine) allegedly, or what is (rightly) believed to be, a clutch, with a famous supermodel named Elena (the charming Alice Taglioni). An unlikely figure, a humble valet named François (the charismatic Gad Elmaleh), is caught in the picture, which is plastered across tabloid newspaper front pages. Pierre's only hope, and to me, the weak point of the premise, is that François is the man with whom supermodel Elena is involved. Pierre tracks François down and convinces him via a small (which is all François wants in order to purchase something for his true love, the down-to-earth bookstore owner named Emile (an unfleshed out part performed well by Virginie Ledoyen)) gift to live with Elena as though they were a couple. This leads to one of many attempts at surveillance from both Pierre and Christine as both attempt identify whether Pierre was involved with the supermodel. However, and while the essence of relationships for Elena is the same as that for Pierre, it seems completely ridiculous that Christine would even consider taking Pierre at his word, that indeed the supermodel was dating this humble and plain valet, and not the media mogul. So weak does this point seem, that to me, it halts my suspension of disbelief which precludes me from believing that the basic premise of this film could be plausible. That said, if you can accept this premise, I think you will enjoy the film. Veteran and very talented director Francis Veber has been a fantastic director with a great appreciation of the nuances of human relations and the director of other excellent comedies like "The Dinner Game" (1998), "La Cage Aux Folles" (1980), "The Closet" (2001) is very talented. However, I just find the underlying premises of this movie problematic. That said, the romantic dynamics are fascinating and addressed thoughtfully. The film is the work of a pro, one premise aside. I found it to be much less satisfying given the implausibility of the idea that Elena would date François.