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La Doublure|The Valet

Deeper than it appears

By TOM MEEK | April 25, 2007

3.0 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for La Doublure|The Valet.

Have the French cornered the market on light comedy? Can you name a sweet-natured end-to-end laugher that’s come out of Hollywood recently? Enter veteran French farceur Francis Veber. François (Gad Elmaleh), the title functionary, a bug-eyed wisp of a man, proposes to Émilie (Virginie Ledoyen, full of sass) and is turned down; two days later he’s living with Elena (Alice Taglioni), France’s most famous supermodel. Huh? Turns out self-absorbed CEO Pierre (Daniel Auteuil, who starred in Veber’s gay romp Le placard|The Closet), is having an affair with Elena and has engaged François as the centerpiece of an elaborate charade to throw off his wife (Kristin Scott Thomas), who owns a major stake in Pierre’s company and is no fool. Miscommunication and false assumptions abound as Veber tartly layers in some surprisingly tender moments. It’s a brilliant flight of whimsy that’s deeper than its buffed veneer.

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Topics: Reviews , Gad Elmaleh, Daniel Auteuil, Kristin Scott Thomas, More

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