La Doublure

Needing something lightly comic, Veber was my man.

His "The Closet" was trivial, but few trivial things are amusing and fondly recalled. Here, with a different actor, is the same character with much the same quality.

I won't bother you with the story. It doesn't matter. What matters is the way the humor is designed. Essentially all the humor is in the lines. There is no physical comedy here and almost no visual comedy. It is mostly in the dialog. Here is the trick: where other comedy is episodic and/or depends on a zany pace, this has pretty much a normal world, and normal pace. You cannot read the warning signs that a joke is coming. It could appear at any moment, and does from the very beginning.

So very early in the game we are trained to engage ourself very closely and pay attention. This is painless because the world we invest in is so light. We need erect no barriers. Because we open ourselves so, we anticipate what might be funny, investing in the possibility. The form of the thing enlists us in making funny.

This is easy to test. I believe it to be true, and honorably delicate in the way it helps us live.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

This film is hilarious. The set up is a bit unbelievable, but the actors make it work - and mostly believably. The model in the film is refreshingly genuinely nice and not a caricature of a "supermodel." The depth of the main unwitting character, the valet himself, is a bit lacking - but hey, he is charming, as is the rest of the cast. Besides, since he is lovesick, perhaps his lack of depth is at least understandable. The feel of the movie is also quite uplifting - the bad guy loses in the end, and the good guys win. The ride is just fun, and filled with twists and turns, most of which the audience gets to be in on. The only character that was TOO shallow was the valet's girlfriend - she just didn't seem to be worth all the fuss, to me. I don't understand the PG-13 rating - it is not vulgar nor is there any nudity.

Since the general plot, etc., is pretty well discussed here, I won't bore you with the details.

This movie needs to be viewed for the love of it...not to be dissected and intellectualized.

This movie is simply a playful romp. AS Daniel Autille, one of my favorite French actors, gets deeper and deeper into his rouse he gets more and more desperate. His comedic turn is a delight to watch and proves his versatility. His last movie was the incredible "Cache".

Some of the set-ups are wonderful...who cares if some have been done before...and some are fresh and all are done with glee and panache. In fact all of the actors seem to be having fun.

One great aspect of this movie is that there is character development ... several characters are forever changed, for the better, by the end of the movie.

I have no qualms about recommending this movie to friends and film buffs alike. Just go and enjoy.

I hope some Hollywood type doesn't make an American botch job of this one.

see this one! THE VALET is hilarious! I haven't laughed so loudly and enjoyed a French farce so much since LA CAGE AUX FOLLES in 1980. No doubt there will be a terrible USA remake (hello Nicholas Cage, Nic, pick up the phone, it's Disney remakes on the line) which will blunt the silliness and sharpness of this Gallic comedy. Another comment on this site said it is a sure successor to Billy Wilder comedies and that is probably as close to the mark, generating the audience goodwill before they buy at ticket. And you should too; THE VALET like Wilder's ONE TWO THREE or KISS ME STUPID, is intelligent ridiculousness, all glossy with flowers and puzzled faces, retorts and door slamming, bumbling and embarrassments. If Blake Edwards was still making films this would his perfect project as a remake in the US; sadly I expect it to be handled by some MTV hack who will turn it into gravy with a few punches. But, see it first as THE VALET. Laugh. What a delight to see Kristin Scott-Thomas too. What a sly role for her. Yum.

On the surface, "La Doublure" (literal French translation: "The Stand-In") may seem like a standard switcheroo rom-com, but it's so much more than that. It's a classic morality play, not unlike something from Shakespeare or Molière, meticulously written and executed to deliver laughs as well as deeper messages.

You can watch it on either level. If you're in it just for laughs and some funny twists, there's plenty of them. If you sink your teeth deeper, there's a lot of clever symbolism and some nice allegories. For example, take our hero's job: a parking valet. He gets to drive all the hottest cars in the city but they're not his to keep. Just like the hot supermodel he gets temporarily paired with.

Director/writer Francis Veber is known for this sort of comedy. I don't want to label it "intelligent comedy" because there's nothing snotty or pretentious about it. Instead it's good comedy for the masses but with a clever edge. A note about Francis Veber: his standard recipe is to create an "everyman" character (who is always named François Pignon in every movie) and place him in an absurd situation that is the result of the strangeness/hypocrisy of people around him. François is always an innocent patsy, and the nuttiness just follows him wherever he goes. In that respect, it's the opposite of the Shakespearean formula where the "fool" is wise to everyone's ways and in control of the drama despite appearances. The Vebersian formula is to make the "fool" literally a fool, and that makes us connect with him & hope things turn out for the best. Another excellent example of this strategy is in Veber's film "Le dîner de cons" ("The Dinner Game") which is the film that introduced me to the genius of Francis Veber.

If you watch the DVD extras, you'll see how meticulous Veber was in making this film. Every word was carefully scripted, and the delivery was hammered down to a science. You'd never guess it sitting in the audience's seat because it comes across so smooth and easygoing. But make no mistake, everything was carefully planned. There is nothing sloppy about this, or any other film of Francis Veber.

The result is 90 minutes of pinpoint comedic timing, great performances from every actor (including the minor roles), and a fun experience as if you've seen a well produced stage performance.

If you like classy comedies with picture-perfect accuracy, movies like Frank Oz's "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "Death at a Funeral" or Blake Edwards' "Breakfast at Tiffany's", I think you'll really like this. Another one, also starring the excellent Gad Elmaleh, is "Priceless" (the modern French version of "Breakfast at Tiffany's"). All of these comedies are in a class by themselves and well worth the price of admission.