Le jardinier d'Argenteuil

Jean Gabin is cast as a very even-tempered character so once the premise is properly exposed (it already takes more than 20min.) there is not much to expect from him. Then the story plods along like they are just shooting some TV newsreel... and conversely a newsreel would be fiercely edited to be concise to a fault.

The supporting cast is mostly OK, great thespians are wasted here: a gang of old timers, Curd Jürgens... Noël Roquevert gets a bit part where color actually diminishes his usual colorful characterization. Serge Gainsbourg's score is non-descript and he kinda fumbles an easy part, always seeming to awkwardly look for his mark (that tells an awful lot about JP Le Chanois's directing engagement); Lilly Pulver is too old for the part and quite frankly just roaming through it (Le Chanois, again; fortunately he stopped making movies after this one).

This is so devoid of momentum, so lacking in energy it eventually looks like a vaudeville desperately trying to catch your attention by continually moving to a different set. Really a sore pain to watch till the end.