Après Vous
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: C- Film: C
Why is it when the French do stupid, preposterous
comedies, they are sophisticated and intelligent? Yet, when you get the Hollywood equivalent, they’re just a bunch
of stupid idiots? Well, many French
comedies have been remade into bad U.S. versions, but you can look no further
than Pierre Salvadori’s Après Vous (2005) to see how stupid a French
original can be. Louis (José Garcia) is
about to hang himself when restaurant worker Antoine (Daniel Auteuil) sees
him. Unfortunately for us, he rescues
him and a love triangle ensues.
The beautiful, unfortunate woman here is Blanche (Sandrine
Kimberland) becoming the object of the affection of both. Unfortunately, Boudo Saved From Drowning
this ain’t. Instead, it trivializes the
suicide, the adults, the food industry, the audience and the Comedy genre in
general. The actors are not terrible,
but the five writers who help Salvadori write this mess cannot save him from
his lame dialogue. Pseudo-sophisticated
in all kinds of ways, this was a moderate hit and award winner in France. Thankfully, it did not share the same
success here.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image fares better
with decent color and detail, as shot by cinematographer Gilles Henry, A.I.C.,
though none of the shots are very memorable.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is a bit better than the 2.0 Stereo with Pro
Logic surrounds, which has an obnoxious use of vocal music. There are no extras except previews for
other Paramount titles, but 110 minutes of this film was more than enough.
- Nicholas Sheffo
