Les apprentis

How often does a comedy film actually make you laugh out loud? There were several occasions when this one had me roaring. It's the story of two young men squatting in a Paris apartment and scraping a living of sorts. This is Frenchmen Behaving Badly.

Antione (Francois Cluzot) is the nervy hypochondriac with literary pretensions. His physical resemblance to Dustin Hoffman is remarkable, and he exhibits the same quirky neurotic intensity.

Fred is played by Guillaume Depardieu, son of Gerard. Whereas Antoine has bouts of self-loathing over this down-and-out existence, Fred is the genuine article. He lies and steals as easily as breathing, and he has refined laziness into an art form.

The relationship of the two men is the wellspring of much of the humour, and the pairing works splendidly. Their bitter-sweet partnership is both funny and touching. Their high point, the relief and elation after the burglary, is embodied in their early morning walk through the food market, the symbolic return of colour and prosperity to their lives. When the downturn comes, Fred proves himself to be much more than a vacant layabout, and friendship ultimately triumphs over illness and despair.

The Paris of this film isn't the 'ville lumiere' of monuments and rive-gauche cafes. This is more 19th arondissement than 9th. Rather than designers' studios, these real, gritty streets are lined with carpet shops.

A nicely-observed comedy of human manners and foibles, "Les Apprentis" has liberal helpings of warmth and charm, and its greatest blessing is, it's very funny.

The dialogue in this film is hilarious, the acting is superb, and the plot is intelligently constructed. There are no narrative gimmicks - these two mates are normal lads, not drug-addled, not abused by their parents, not victims of horrible fate, prejudice or a miscarriage of justice. This simplicity, coupled with its power to move solely on the development of character, is why the film is so effective. They are losers, of course, but then again who isn't nowadays? Antoine dreams of a nice house complete with nice family and literary career, Fred dreams about combustion engines. They are different, and although it is never directly said by either character, it is clear that their friendship is real and strong. Hollywood would have them opening their hearts either to each other or to some teacher or father figure, but Salvadori is more subtle than that. Their problems are manifest, but never shoved down our throats. What makes this film even more memorable, however, is its ability to make you laugh. Not only is the dialogue clever and just like the stuff you and your mates come out with, but there are also fantastic visual gags, some great set-pieces, and humour emanating from Antoine's withering state of mind (the best being his miserable crossword puzzle clues). I saw this film by accident and it is probably my favourite film, a surprise that will stay with me forever. And it doesn't rely on a pumping, modern soundtrack to keep it alive.

This story, simply and deeply magical, about these two friends who share a poor life, breath love, friendship and learning of life.

Francois Cluzet and Guillaume Depardieu are sensational all along the movie.

Cluzet is outstanding, he clearly knows that his life goes nowhere, he fears turning nuts, he's so funny...Depardieu is more naive and naturally optimistic, he's like a lost child, always between ground and clouds....

The movie is full of both realistic and burlesque humor...you cry and laugh at the same moment...simply magical and touching.....I love the Director, Pierre Salvadori, who touch your soul in every movie he makes...

For many reasons, one of my favorite movie ever....

Les Apprentis is a moving saga of two impoverished friends.Antoine and Fred are unfortunate in all stages of their existence.Their financial lives are completely ruined.They are not at all lucky with their emotional existence as their girl friends have left them.What is interesting for the discerning viewer to watch is their peculiar camaraderie that allows them to go ahead in their lives despite numerous ups and downs.Pierre Salvadori has effectively created a tender tale of emotional calamities.He has elicited excellent acting performances from his entire cast.Guillaume Depardieu is splendid as gawky photographer Fred.Les Appentis takes a bizarre twist towards the end when neurotic Antoine tries to hide his emotions from Fred.It is impossible to find a parallel to this film in an array of cynical tradition of French Cinema.It easily brings to mind Claude Lelouch's Robert et Robert.The impressive soundtrack is capable of enlivening gloomy spirits.The strength of the film lies in the fact that it gives viewers ample time to make their own judgments

"Antoine" (François Cluzet) and his younger pal "Fred" (Guillaume Depardieu - anyone else think he's the double of Julian Sands?) live together in a glorified squat struggling to put a lettuce, or a tomato, on the table. The former fancies himself as a bit of a playwright but is amidst a fairly long barren spell; the latter - well he's a bit of a charming wastrel who is content to lie in bed all day as they both dream of their girlfriends, real or imaginary. Finally, they run out of what cash they did have and with eviction looming large they decide to rob the offices where "Antoine" works. That just proves to be a typically cack-handed affair for the pair, but also one that sees them rumbled by his bosses and facing a rather unique form of retribution - it's a martial arts magazine! Needless to say, this causes a bit of difficulty between these two men as depression soon hits "Antoine" in quite a potent fashion. Luckily, the boys have "Lorette" (Marie Trintignant) on hand to help steer them through this emotional maelstrom just as "Fred" succeeds in getting himself involved in a ménage-a-trois! Sure, it's all a little contrived and the scenarios do seem to go from frying pan to fire with predictable regularity, but there's a convincing and enjoyable dynamic between the two men here that the witty, quite near the bone, script does much to augment. In it's way it is quite an affecting love story depicting an inter-reliance based on a genuine fondness between two people whom you might reasonably think would do better apart. It hits the ground running and provides us with quite an entertaining observation of their lives that's well worth an hour and an half.