The Valet
Studio: Columbia TriStar
Rated: PG-13
Cast: Gad Elmaleh, Kristin Scott Thomas
Director: Francis Veber
WorkNameSort: Valet, The
Our Rating: 2.00
American producers must love French director Francis Veber. A veteran of Hollywood himself, having made Three Fugitives and Out on a Limb, Veber’s farcical comedies offer no distinction from the middlebrow commercial tripe offered in droves here in the States. Veber’s latest is a predictable snoozer about an unlucky-in-love valet (Gad Elmaleh) who must pose as the beau of a supermodel (Alice Taglioni) to convince a billionaire’s wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) that the billionaire (Daniel Auteuil) isn’t sleeping with the supermodel, even though he is. How wacky! This fast-moving, disposable confection moves quickly enough, and there’s a pleasing romance at its core between Elmaleh’s François Pignon and his friend Emilie (Virginie Ledoyen). But, while farces are inherently far-fetched, the good ones aren’t filled with as much exaggerated idiocy as The Valet. Most of the male characters turn into gaping jackasses at the sight of every exposed leg, and this movie’s idea of comedy is a doctor who happens to get sick on a house call. I kept fantasizing about how great this film would have been if Eric Rohmer had made it.
This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2007.