It's not as outrageous or as hilarious as his best work, but it's still charming, even when it isn't finding the funnybone.
Overview
Caught by tabloid paparazzi with his mistress Elena, a famous and beautiful fashion model, billionaire Pierre Levasseur tries to avoid a divorce by inventing a preposterous lie. He uses the presence of a passerby in the photo to claim to his wife that it's not him Elena is seeing but the other man, one François Pignon. Pignon is a modest little man who works as a parking valet. To make the story convincing, Elena has to move in with Pignon.
Director and cast
- Francis Veber Director
- Gad Elmaleh as François Pignon
- Alice Taglioni as Elena Simonsen
- Daniel Auteuil as Pierre Levasseur
- Kristin Scott Thomas as Christine Levasseur
- Richard Berry as Maître Foix
- Virginie Ledoyen as Emilie
- Dany Boon as Richard
- Michel Jonasz as André Pignon
- Michel Aumont as Doctor
- Laurent Gamelon Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
It's all empty calories, of course, but that's what French pastry -- not to mention popcorn -- is all about.
Veber's script is masterfully constructed to increase the laughs as the scheme grows more and more convoluted.
Starts with a nice premise, but ends up fractured.
Call it a sorbet, a souffle or an amuse bouche, The Valet is a satisfying antidote to the overload and bombast that run rampant in American movies at this time of the year.
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