Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Balthazar-5 At a time when French cinema is at, IMHO, its lowest ebb, with not a single great auteur in sight, I had come to rely on Francis Veber to provide excellence in comedy if of only a not very profound type. After Three Fugitives (both versions) and Le Dîner des Cons (to name just two) his films seemed to be heading into Blake Edwards territory.But, oh my word!, what a catastrophe is this grotesque. The central character drifts through a series of 'adventures' involving an unpleasant millionaire (Daniel Auteuil) who is cheating on his wife (the fabulous Kristin Scott Thomas) with a model. The whole thing is flat as a pancake, probably due to the casting of Gad Elmaleh - French cinema's most over-rated actor. This numb-skull drifts through promising scenes but doesn't give what is needed to bring them alive.This is all the more troubling as, given he is playing the same character (or at least the character with the same name) as the central character in Le Dîner des Cons, François Pignon, One imagines what the magnificent Jacques Villeret could have done in the same rôle, had he not died just before the film went into production.

Chrysanthepop The story of 'La Doublure' is far from original but even otherwise, the story is contrived due to Veber's sloppy writing. The characters are half baked, especially Emilie who at one moment shows no sign of having any romantic feelings for François but the next moment she's completely jealous when learning about his involvement with a supermodel. The only things working for this film are the comedic situations and this is largely due to the actors. Gad Elmaleh and the sensual Alice Taglioni have a good chemistry and I enjoyed their scenes together. Daniel Auteuil is funny too as the adulterous businessman. Kristin Scott Thomas plays her part with ease. Virginie Ledoyen suffers from poor characterization. The whimsical soundtrack works well and the French streets are an extra treat to watch. 'La Doublure' required more development and more than 85 minutes running time as it appears very rushed through but for a few laughs it's quite an okay fair.

Rob This is a very good movie, not a masterpiece, but a very good one, even if, unfortunately, it's spoiled. I own the DVD, and every time I looked at it, I felt somehow unsatisfied, in the end, and I couldn't understand why, until finally I realized: this movie lacks a heart. It's cold, a perfect mechanism, but with no heart. It's been so carefully written and played, but the passion is not there. There's no real human being in there, only puppets without soul. And that's a real shame, because everything else works, in a way. The idea is good (altho not very believable), Paris looks marvelous, the gags are funny, and the choice of actors is great. But the final result is cold, self-centered, in a very modern-french-movie way. I would definitely suggest it for renting (at least it'll make you feel like you're living in Paris), but not to buy. One final note about Alice Taglioni: she's a unique example of an incredibly beautiful woman who can be funny. Among such great actors, she manages to escape the puppet mechanism and be human, wonderfully so. Alice, if you're reading this, marry me :)

RussyPelican I really enjoyed The Valet. It's a sweet little film that had me grinning the whole way through. My smiles were only interrupted now and then by bursts of laughter.Gad Elmaleh plays a valet who through pure chance is photographed with a billionaire (the always wonderful Daniel Auteuil) and his mistress, a famous supermodel. When the photo turns up in the tabloids the billionaire must convince his wife that the supermodel is really with the valet, so he gets them to live together while his wife has them shadowed by private investigators. The plan backfires on the billionaire when he finds himself consumed with jealousy at the thought of his mistress spending the night with another man, so he also sends private investigators to watch them. Meanwhile the Valet has romantic problems of his own that are complicated by the fact that all of a sudden he finds himself shacking up with the most beautiful woman in France. It's a cute and funny little romantic comedy.