In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

After You... is your more Hollywoodised French farce; a concept comedy driven by offbeat, eccentric encounters imbued with the topic of love or with the issue of fondness for another human being; primarily between two male leads of binary opposition whose lives unceremoniously clash for our amusement. The Hollywoodised impression is omnipresent throughout, and its sense of prominence goes right down to the fact that at one point it opts for the old "numerous parties at a restaurant" scenario, a situation in which one character is 'in' on the entire gag as the presence of certain others and their own parties at a restaurant threaten to ruin everything that has preceded this perilous point. I think this may be one of the few French film to ever take its lead, in terms of its comedy source, from an American picture along the lines of something like Mrs. Doubtfire.In spite of this, the film is not without a certain charm; the politic of the thing, always a sure sign of how rotten the hearts of the makers are, appear to just about eventually slot into the right places – indeed, it might have a been a sure sight worse. Where we don't believe in any of the characters as being of a nature that resembles much more than that of 'stock', we enjoy the perilous mix up of emotions and expressions which certain characters therein begin to feel themselves torn toward; the bulk of it resulting in an often amusing, lightly played cocktail of chaos. If the later scenes rely on the drawn-out-to-some, aforementioned restaurant scenario of whoever threatening to stumble upon whatever, then it is at least to the film's credit we fear the looming revelations.The film follows that of Antoine Letoux, a headwaiter at an expensive seafood restaurant played by acting stalwart Daniel Auteuil, and the complications born out of his saving of a man from suicide and bringing him into his life. Letoux is busy at his job when we first see him, leading a chaotic working existence seeing to several tables and helping several customers, practically all at once. We draw on the conclusion he's rather apt at balancing several things at once, something which will crucially come into play later on, but a border-line obsessive at what he does to the point that he substitutes getting away on time to a date with his girlfriend, Marilyne Canto's Christine, purely so as to attend to another table in need. The song playing over these images, indeed an overtune of sorts overbearing the opening credits and thus engulfing the rest of the film, alludes to an individual leaning towards impending disaster as they journey, although perhaps not necessarily being as bothered about it as one would expect. Letoux's situation, you might say, is representative of these lyrics, the man careening down the rocky road he's on towards trouble; strife and disaster: Pierre Salvadori's film a capturing of this chapter and all of the comic shenanigans than come with it.On the way home from the workplace, a shortcut through a park to hasten a rendez-vous, the excursion sees him stumble across that aforementioned attempted suicidee. He is Louis (García), a man saved from a hanging and as a consequence taken in by Letoux so as to be helped. As individuals, the two men could not be much in the way of further apart; Letoux's measured, in-tune demeanour and somewhat older age standing in contrast to that of Louis' very often still, often stilted body-language which goes hand in hand with this younger man's tendency to stare off into space at whatever opportunity. Letoux, established to be living life in his nice apartment with a thus-far healthy relationship, goes against Louis' wandering, drifting situation and dilapidated marital capacity with that of later player of greater prominence Blanche (Kiberlain), something that led him to attempt death in the first place.A wily tale is spun out of these beginnings. Where most Hollywood movies of this ilk arrive with common complaints in the form of why it is that a certain female has either spent the time she has with our lead, or is indeed continuing to spend the amount of time with him; Christine's eventual departure from proceedings after the placement of her and her relationship with the lead second to his work, and with certain others, is a refreshing breaking away from seemingly ill-minded tradition. This is out of Letoux's bonding with Louis, and his gradual desiring of Blanche; a commonplace florist looking to marry another man after the attempt at infiltrating her life in the style of a private-investigator so as to garner answers for Louis. The film gets a little muddled as it proceeds with its narrative, which it entangles itself in a little more than is required; the film is probably twenty or so minutes too long and while there are laughs, the gaps between them are longer than is desired. Letoux's Samaritan act makes for good value and Auteuil rises to the material making it far more watchable than it might have been. The film thinks it's a lot more dramatic than it is; the reconstruction of Louis' life at the hands of Letoux and his own affections towards another woman make for rather sensitive subject matter causing the film to splutter in where its priorities lie in regards to telling a situational farce or a humble piece about a man's deep feelings, but there is enough, if not an awful lot, to enjoy although nary a great deal to feel totally dispassionate about, in what is a wavy but effective comedy.

Auteuil plays Antoine, the maître at a Paris restaurant. Taking a short cut through a park late one night, Antoine comes upon Louis. just as he kicks the suitcase out from under his feet to hang himself from a tree. Antoine saves him, brings him home, introduces him to his girlfriend Christine and cares more about Louis than Louis himself. This is where troubles for Antoine start.I believe that the movie has been underrated by critics and viewers of the IMDb. The acting of Auteil and García is very good and the movie has scenes that made me roll laughing on the floor, notoriously when Louis is interviewed for a job at the restaurant.Auteuil faces speak for themselves. He does not need to say anything to make you enjoy what is going on in the screen. If you want to have a good laugh the movie is highly recommended.

Antoine (Daniel Auteuil) is a head waiter in a chic Parisian restaurant and lives with his girlfriend Christine (Marilyne Canto). His work occupies a lot of place in his life. One evening, by going through a park to be more quickly at his apartment, he saves from suicide a neurotic man Louis (José Garcia). After vainly attempted to take him back to his close relatives, he takes him under his wing and succeeds to find him a job as a waiter in his workplace. Louis wanted to kill himself because his love affair with his ex girlfriend Blanche (Sandrine Kiberlain) went unravel. Antoine found her again because he wants to reconcile them again. She's a charming florist and, you guess it he becomes enamored of her. From then onwards, his well-ordered life starts to showcase signs of poor running.I'm a little surprised but glad to discover that this little high charged, hilarious comedy enjoys a small reputation abroad. About twenty reviews have already been posted for this film and most of them gave the movie thumbs up. I will post another positive one in spite of minor flaws Pierre Salvadori's film showcases.Some will be probably surprised but the outset reminded me of Jean Renoir's classic "Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux" (1932), perhaps because of the quite prestigious situation the main protagonists of the films occupy and maybe also because they save from suicide ill-fated men who are cracking up. And then, the saved ones immerse themselves in their rescuers' lives and disrupt their living environment. But although both movies are comedies, they don't belong to the same sub-category. Pierre Salvadori preferred not to follow the steps of the master which bestowed his own work with a strong social satire whiff. There's no trace of it in "Après Vous", although there may be an inkling of it in the following sequence: when Antoine takes Louis in the cellar and shows him the names of the different wines. Louis is afraid not to recognize the right wines and I think that Antoine answers him the customers ape the connoisseurs and don't know anything about wines. The director preferred to choose the road of the sentimental comedy and to especially focus on Antoine's turbulent love life.Pierre Salvadori commands his film at arm's length and delays the most momentous moment of the movie (the meeting between Louis and Blanche) to better linger on Louis' new life and especially on Antoine's love trouble. In a way, by making Louis work in his restaurant, by undertaking to reconcile him with Blanche and unfortunately by having a crush on her, he is a victim of his generosity. And Louis doesn't really realize the situations in which he puts Antoine. There's a funny sequence around the beginning of the film during which Antoine is at Louis' grandmother's and tries to alter Louis' suicide note in a placating, comforting letter. Then, deep down inside him, he thinks of leaving his ex girlfriend to live with Blanche and has to lie to his protégé and circle not to arouse suspicion about his real motivations. The movie becomes very enjoyable when it accumulates misunderstandings and embarrassing situations linked with Louis' job as a waiter or Antoine's sentimental trouble which the latter tries to escape by hilarious means (check the sequences in the Chinese restaurant). The scenario is also interspersed with droll lines: "how do you find the chicken? Dead".A threesome of actors serves the film. Daniel Auteuil is able to provide enough caliber to his character to watch the film until the tail end and I would like to congratulate the user "writer's reign" for the tasty pun he inserted in his review: "maitre d'Auteuil". José Garcia who earlier showed in his career that he could hold comical as well as dramatic roles (Philippe Harel's "Extension Du Domaine De la Lutte, 1999) shines as the neurotic, wound up Louis, indirectly responsible of Antoine's mishaps. At last, Sandrine Kiberlain, a little frail, naive but the director never ridicules her. She was ideally cast as Blanche. In French, this name is also an adjective which means white and the actress has a somewhat pallid face which suits well to both the name and the personality of her character.If the director honed his work with a palpable painstaking care for much of his work, there are little setbacks towards the end of the road. The end is thoroughly unexpected but was made in a rush and the trick of the lighter has been seen many times before. But these flaws aren't major enough to reject Salvadori's film. So, "Après Vous" and enjoy your film!

If you have a mind that is not mush from explosion, gun and alien movies, this will assure you that great cinema is still possible.The writing is fantastic and so nimble that your mind dances a duet with the production. Twists and turns and planting/payoff of clues is done with excellent timing, always assuming that the audience has functioning brains. Humor and love mix a great cocktail in this Cyrano-esquire beauty of a film. Nice not to be insulted with the obvious or with over explanation.The acting? To watch M. Auteuil's face go through its paces in any one scene is to watch genius portraying human character with such understanding and subtlety that we cannot miss a great part of the story that would, in another actor's hands, be obscured. M. Garcia is a great and pleasurable surprise for me; I hope you have seen him in other flix; I will look for him.Ah, the directing. Such a perfect grasp of timing!! Not too fast or slow and always attentive to bringing out the best of the great writing and actors.Did I say I liked it? Yup. Even for fans of Auteuil, this is an all time great. See it!!