Rated PG-13; language, sexual situations
1 hour, 23 minutes
In French, with English subtitles
May 18, 2007
In France, it is often believed that a man of means has a right to a mistress, and that his wife has a right to ignore it. That proves to be just another sexist fiction for Pierre Levasseur (Daniel Auteuil), a smug captain of industry, who is photographed by a tabloid with his mistress, an impossibly beautiful supermodel named Elena (Alice Taglioni). Not only does Pierre's wife Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas) not subscribe to this social convention, she also owns 51% of Pierre's company; she could divorce him and fire him.
So is the crisis that powers the ever-smooth machinery of "The Valet," the latest French farce from Francis Veber, whose absurd, mostly enjoyable comedies include "La Cage aux Folles" and "La Chevre." Veber's films are almost always remade in the United States -- the aforementioned as "The Birdcage" and "The Goat" -- and they are, with one or two exceptions, rarely as good as the originals. The words French and farce go together for a reason.
As the title suggests, the dislikable Pierre is not at the center of this crazed contraption. It is instead Francois Pignon, a recurring sad sack victim in Veber's films. (He was played by Auteuil in "The Closet.
") Francois, now played by Gad Elmaleh, has the misfortune -- or depending on how one views it, the fortune -- to have been captured in the periphery of the paparazzi photo.
When Christine goes ballistic after seeing it, Pierre assures her it wasn't him out on the town with Elena, but the other guy in the picture. He then proceeds to track down Francois, a valet parker at a swank Paris restaurant who is down in the dumps.
Having proposed and been turned down by the woman he loves, Emilie (Virginie Ledoyen), who is busy starting a new bookstore and has always thought of him more "as a brother," Francois is open to Pierre's scheme. Francois would publicly squire Elena around Paris to convince Pierre's wife that he is telling the truth. As for Elena, she is open to the idea of ending up with all of Pierre's money.
It is all too ridiculous, but as with all Veber's films, "The Valet" moves too fast and efficiently for us to dwell on its lack of probability. And in the melancholy of Francois and his predicament -- when his fellow valet Richard (Dany Boon) presses him for info as to what it's like to share a bed with the much-coveted Elena, he says it's like parking one of the fancy cars at the restaurant, it just makes you sad to know you can never own it -- "The Valet" has something not often found in Veber's films: empathy.
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