Après vous (2003, France)

Antoine is a maitre d' in Paris. He's a good man who always says "yes" to everyone, and there's some strain in his relationship. So when he's late for dinner, he takes a shortcut home through the park, where he finds Louis hanging himself over a woman. Louis attaches himself to Antoine, who finds him a job at his restaurant and attempts to fix his life. Of course this involves Antoine meeting Blanche, the woman Louis was killing himself over, and Antoine falls for her too. Hijinx ensue.

This film was very French and very entertaining. Not just anyone can pull off the dark comedy, the love triangles, the bizarre but almost realistic antics. The French are just gifted that way. I enjoyed this one, and I would definitely recommend it.

Rating: 3.5

The Valet / La Doublure (2006, France)

How very French. A wealthy man is cheating on his wife (a majority shareholder in his company) with a supermodel. A valet proposes to his girlfriend, and she says no. And then the wealthy man hires the valet to pretend to be with the supermodel, in order to fool the wife.

It was really rather entertaining, as only a comedy of errors—and a French film—can be. All of the characters are very well developed and continue to develop throughout the film. However the "happily ever after" just doesn't work out in a way that makes any sense, which rather killed the movie for me.

The score was composed by Alexandre Desplat, who is one of my favorite composers. Strangely, I believe this is the first French film I've seen that he's composed the score for. But it was truly wonderful. Very upbeat and great fun.

Also, I'm getting quite fond of Gad Elmaleh. I need to see some more of his work.

Rating: 3.0