The Valet

Jacquelyn Curtis enjoyed a night of gallic wit as French romantic comedy The Valet opened the University-supported Canberra Film Festival

31 October 2006: I was pleasantly surprised to find this light-hearted romantic comedy thoroughly amusing - somewhat ironic given the entrenched French stereotype.

But as any film enthusiast knows, plenty of good films are often made by playing outside the stereotypes, and the Parisian setting provides the perfect backdrop for a fresh take on the well-worn love triangle plot.

Kristin Scott Thomas in a scene from the Valet

The film opens with a liaison between Pierre Levasseur, a high flying CEO, and his lover, the world famous model Elena Simonsen. But this is not an idyllic romantic rendezvous - Elena has had enough of Pierre's promises to leave his wife and his placating token gifts. She storms out onto the street with Pierre in pursuit. Whilst they quarrel, a paparazzi photographer captures them together, and shortly thereafter Mrs Levasseur is demanding answers. In attempting to save his marriage (or as becomes apparent later Mrs Levasseur's half share in his company) Pierre tries to convince his wife that the model is not his lover, but the girlfriend of a passer-by who wound up in the photo.

That passer-by is Francois Pignon, a sweet but pitiable car parking attendant who's recent rejected marriage proposal and consequential broken heart left him wandering miserably down the Parisian street.

In order to make his cover story believable, Pierre convinces Francois and Elena to pose as a couple and move in together, promising money for both of them and a divorce from his wife for Elena.. In the hope that his improved financial state will win over his childhood sweetheart Emilie, Francois accepts and begins to lead a double life.

As would be expected, things go awry when Elena and Francois develop a friendship making Pierre insanely jealous. The cunning and surprisingly wittysupermodel, Elena flaunts her 'relationship' with Francois to make Pierre realise what he is missing. Things reach fever pitch when Mrs Levasseur is not convinced by the staged relationship and begins to wage her own revenge on her scoundrel husband.

Whilst strong leading performances by Francois (Elmahleh), who was just pathetic enough to be likeable and Elena (Alice Taglioni) buoyed the film, it was the cast of support characters that provided the comedy element of the film. Ranging from Pierre's lawyer to Francois' roommate Richard, and Emilie's hilariously sleazy suitor Pascal, it was these characters with their witty one-liners, farcical personalities and slapstick scenes that lifted the film beyond what had the potential to be a clichéd romantic comedy.

In fact, the film was far better written and made great use of the actors' commendable comedic timing than recent similarly-themed Hollywood offerings.

An encore screening of The Valet will show at Electric Shadows on Nov 2.

There will be an encore screening of The Valet at Electric Shadows on 2 November

Visit the film festival website

Cast:

Pierre Levasseur
Daniel Auteuil

Christine Levasseur
Kristin Scott Thomas

Elena Simonsen
Alice Taglioni

Francois Pignon
Gad Elmaleh

Director:
Francis Veber