L'apparenza inganna

Francois Pignon is a shy, unassuming accountant in a French rubber manufacturing firm. With redundancies on the way, he knows that, because he is not respected by his boss or colleagues, that he will be the first one out the door. After a discussion with his new neighbour, Pignon fabricates photographs that make himself look undeniably gay – thus preventing his employers from sacking him without making it look like they did it due to his sexuality. When he 'comes out', the rumours start but his job is safe – in fact, the management move to clamp down on the behaviour of one of the management team who is homophobic. Worried for his own job due to his warning, Felix Santini is convinced that, in order to fit with the company line on homosexuality, he must be especially nice to Pignon and show how modern he is. However this only serves to create more misunderstandings within the workplace.

With the natural American remake surely only a matter of years away, I was glad that I had the chance to see this film before the remake rather that afterwards. Able to view it as an original piece of work without any other spin, I found it to be a rather charming little film – slight and lacking real bite but still providing gentle laughs and subtle comment. The plot allows for the film to look at the way that homosexuality has changed over the decades to the point now where it is acceptable and yet still looked down upon (but not openly in public – that is not PC!). It also manages to bring in other threads involving Felix's homophobia, a thread that starts out being very funny but later becomes quite touching and delicate. It never really gets very convincing as a serious plot or a real sharp commentary but it is a light comedy – I didn't expect it to. A heavier plot would have spoilt the enjoyable light mood the film had which does manage to turn a little more serious towards the end without losing the comic spirit it had early on.

Veber is a good comic direction and I have liked several of his films that I have seen. Here he brings together a good cast to build on his witty script. Auteuil is, as he often is, very good. A comic little fool that grows on the audience and develops as a person over the duration of the film, he plays it well and is nicely understated – I hate to think how Hollywood will deal with a character pretending to be gay: terrible camp clichés (Will & Grace, Birdcage) will be much more likely than anything else. Depardieu was a surprise find but he was also very good – starting out in a very comic role at first but skilfully making more of it and making the changes to his character pretty convincing. Support from Lhermitte, Laroque, Aumont and others are all good but the film is easily stolen by Auteuil and Depardieu.

Overall a very enjoyable little film that has a good comic tone as well as an interesting story. Never consistently hilarious or going too much the other way to be pointed and political, it judges the mood just right and has a bit of both, producing a balanced film that, despite being a little slight in several regards, is enjoyable and interesting – I hope the inevitable remake can do it justice.

Faced with a choice of American "look-alike" movies, I watched this little gem on the basis of the cast alone. What an excellent choice!

This is a brilliantly funny movie, with some unforgettable moments - particularly the "testing department" sequence in the condom factory. The story is amusing, the cast are perfect, particularly Gerard Depardieu's hilarious, touching, crazy mixed up macho/gay guy. The premise, that in order to keep his job a colourless little accountant has to pretend that he is gay (a very tongue in cheek comment on prejudice here) - the can of worms that he opens up has many aspects, both good and bad. And they gave us a happy ending - what more can one ask for? Recommended.

This film was recently released in Paris and involved a substantial number of French comedians - Auteuil, Rochefort, Laroque, Derpardieu Lhermitte, Aumont et alia. The acting of Auteil, Depardieu and Rocherfort above all is very amusing and good. I found Thierry Lhermitte's role in this film of less "importance" than in others, e.g. Le Diner de Cons and " Le Père Noël es une Ordure". The situation (probleme of homosexuality being or not being used as a way of firing or not firing someone )relates very much to today and the average spectator will be able to relate to the scenes of the film especially if he or she works in an office. I found the film most amusing, much better than 'Diner de Cons' (which had a bitter side to it). I think this film should better stand the test of time like some of Veber's previous servings ( La Chèvre, Compères Fugitifs ). The other thing is that is is not typically French and should be able to have a truly international appeal. Veber has this gift, I think of being able to be creative outside the French "carcan" and many of his works are remade internationally. Well worth seeing, wherever you come from and especially of you are feeling down in th mouth !!!!!

This amiable and amusing film is delightful as it plays around with political correctness, homophobia, machismo, and business management.

The dull-witted and just plain dull main character keeps his job by pretending to be gay -- at the suggestion of a neighbor who is an industrial psychologist that once lost his own job BECAUSE he is gay. With that premise, the film is off to a wonderful series of misunderstandings and revelations as our hero discovers a great deal about life, people around him, and most of all, himself. The fact that all of this takes place is a very prim, high-tech condom factory makes the comedy all the more lively.

I wasn't expecting the lift that the film gave me. It has a flimsy giddiness about it lacking in most comedies about being gay or straight or anything else. See it if you get a chance.

This is a delightful character study and social commentary masquerading as a broad farce. It is very, very funny. They avoid cheap "queer" jokes and cheap "homophobe" jokes even as they bluntly portray attitudes about homosexuals. Even though they use very real language to illustrate the attitudes. There is some great acting throughout. Each of the characters is a study in itself. The homophobic character (Depardieu) emerges as intriguing and sympathetic, where it could have been two dimensional. The relationship between Auteil and Aumont almost brought me to tears. The transformation of the lead character is believable, despite the improbable context that the film creates. The final scene with his ex-wife is powerful. Others have pointed out that the lead character never changes, the perceptions of others change. This makes his actual transformation that much more effective. This movie is a real find.