R. Ignacio Litardo
First of all, this is a comedy of sorts. It reminds me of the great Spanish comedy "Crimen Ferpecto/ Ferpect crime" by Alex de la Iglesia in that a great premise gets somewhat thwarted in the end by putting too much emphasis, "volume" or simply lacking nuances. L'Hermitte as a hateable shabby TV presenter of a crappy show is what drew my attention to it, and of course he doesn't disappoint. Such a good comedian! A departure from his "winner" roles, that's for sure! He looks so young :). The best character was, by far, "Marie-Anne Chazel", which I didn't know up to now. Her mixture of "poor housewife" but also savvy and feisty wins the day. Evidently, we're all made to "side" for her; but it's a heroine without being perfect. Great actress! Such a voice, when she complains, she's so natural one could hardly realize she's acting :). It was good to know "Christian Clavier". He's a fine comedian, having done Asterix, Les bronzés, etc. Sorry French readers, but for us outside the francophone world, your gifted actors are waiting to be known! Clémentine Célarié was fine in a too stereotyped role. I'd say her script is the worst, by far. One dimensional. The "cold nice successful woman obsessed with her job" is OK for 2', but I honestly expected something to happen to such an important character, some change, doubt or remorse. Her last words say it all. I insist that she plays it well. And is probably a nice woman under all this classy attire :). Marc de Jonge as Vernon has only 2 scenes but is an effective counterpoint to "good rustic Gérard". The way he mistreats him at the beginning is superb! Philippe Khorsand as the sleazy producer is FINE. So is Angelo Infanti as the sympa Italian boss (for once, we're not depicted as maffiosi or stupid!). Antoine Dulery's Alex is cool as Corine's former boyfriend, maniac about plans which surely work in his head, but... Stéphane (Lapersonne) is OK as a sidekick to them all. J. P. Muel is better still as the "bad news" guy. Maurice Lamy as "L'albinos", I don't want him near my house! Such a stupid madman's everything :). Mathias Jung (Le Grelé) is his proper companion on their route to hell. But the star there is Francois Toumarkine, the fat disagreable guy who says something sleazy about their daughter. One would almost believe he'll do it! Gendron accompanies. F. Lalande is fine as another politician who speaks for not saying nothing! And Véronique Moest as "Bella", the Italian bad mannered and kitsch lover of Contini, I'll have her in mind when I am introduced to my parents in law :). The rhythm is fine, almost frantic, which reminds me of another great French comedy with a "diner that turns to hell": "L'invité". While this film definitely looks old, I suppose unintended, the larger social issues, social satire and farce are there. Like when Corine retorts to Gérard about his youth: Marxist student of literature, took drugs, bad student... Corine wins the show, poor Gérard is barely gasping for air and she blows, hits and kicks him. No wonder one of the writers is a woman (it shows :). Honestly, I found it funny, sometimes even roared of laughter at all the eccentricities. I was forgetting the "belle mere", Annie Cordy. She's one of those secondary characters that make the film roll, and add a laugh when you thought there wasn't anything else that could go wrong! Her "hot" picture hanging on the wall :)... When she complains that "her youth has been damaged" when it was painted over by those madmen!Note: The summary written by "Aline" contains spoilers. In fact, it tells everything, including the ending! Can you warn your avid readers?
schiche
This typical 90's french farce staring Christian clavier follows his considerably more successful "Les Visiteurs" released the year before with many of the same actors. Unlike that film - which became a classic of sorts - "La Vengeance" was quickly forgotten. I didn't see it when it first came out but I caught it on TV5 the other night (TV5 on cable and satellite is the only way to watch french movies subtitled in English that wouldn't never make it to region 1 DVD or on artsy IFC).If the story is so typical of french popular comedies (a sympathetic loser caught between a wife and a mistress, annoying in-laws, a dash of political commentaries, criticism of trash TV and yuppies) and totally predictable from start to finish, it is still very funny.Clémentine Célarié in the role of the mistress is great as is the dynamic between Christian Clavier and his wife Marie-Anne Chazel who are also married in real life (a real "art-imitating-life" situation?) . Thierry Lhermitte (complete with fake too-white-to-be-true teeth and a toupee) makes a very funny turn as the cheesy TV presenter hosting a popular "tell-all" live show (the show in which the blonde wife of the title will take her revenge..")
