Just so...so bad

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

On the surface, "La Doublure" (literal French translation: "The Stand-In") may seem like a standard switcheroo rom-com, but it's so much more than that. It's a classic morality play, not unlike something from Shakespeare or Molière, meticulously written and executed to deliver laughs as well as deeper messages.You can watch it on either level. If you're in it just for laughs and some funny twists, there's plenty of them. If you sink your teeth deeper, there's a lot of clever symbolism and some nice allegories. For example, take our hero's job: a parking valet. He gets to drive all the hottest cars in the city but they're not his to keep. Just like the hot supermodel he gets temporarily paired with.Director/writer Francis Veber is known for this sort of comedy. I don't want to label it "intelligent comedy" because there's nothing snotty or pretentious about it. Instead it's good comedy for the masses but with a clever edge. A note about Francis Veber: his standard recipe is to create an "everyman" character (who is always named François Pignon in every movie) and place him in an absurd situation that is the result of the strangeness/hypocrisy of people around him. François is always an innocent patsy, and the nuttiness just follows him wherever he goes. In that respect, it's the opposite of the Shakespearean formula where the "fool" is wise to everyone's ways and in control of the drama despite appearances. The Vebersian formula is to make the "fool" literally a fool, and that makes us connect with him & hope things turn out for the best. Another excellent example of this strategy is in Veber's film "Le dîner de cons" ("The Dinner Game") which is the film that introduced me to the genius of Francis Veber.If you watch the DVD extras, you'll see how meticulous Veber was in making this film. Every word was carefully scripted, and the delivery was hammered down to a science. You'd never guess it sitting in the audience's seat because it comes across so smooth and easygoing. But make no mistake, everything was carefully planned. There is nothing sloppy about this, or any other film of Francis Veber.The result is 90 minutes of pinpoint comedic timing, great performances from every actor (including the minor roles), and a fun experience as if you've seen a well produced stage performance.If you like classy comedies with picture-perfect accuracy, movies like Frank Oz's "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "Death at a Funeral" or Blake Edwards' "Breakfast at Tiffany's", I think you'll really like this. Another one, also starring the excellent Gad Elmaleh, is "Priceless" (the modern French version of "Breakfast at Tiffany's"). All of these comedies are in a class by themselves and well worth the price of admission.

Needing something lightly comic, Veber was my man.His "The Closet" was trivial, but few trivial things are amusing and fondly recalled. Here, with a different actor, is the same character with much the same quality. I won't bother you with the story. It doesn't matter. What matters is the way the humor is designed. Essentially all the humor is in the lines. There is no physical comedy here and almost no visual comedy. It is mostly in the dialog. Here is the trick: where other comedy is episodic and/or depends on a zany pace, this has pretty much a normal world, and normal pace. You cannot read the warning signs that a joke is coming. It could appear at any moment, and does from the very beginning. So very early in the game we are trained to engage ourself very closely and pay attention. This is painless because the world we invest in is so light. We need erect no barriers. Because we open ourselves so, we anticipate what might be funny, investing in the possibility. The form of the thing enlists us in making funny.This is easy to test. I believe it to be true, and honorably delicate in the way it helps us live.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Dany Boon (Joyeux Noël) got a César nomination for supporting actor as the best friend of a really lucky guy.Daniel Auteuil (Caché, Girl on the Bridge) is hilarious as the billionaire caught with his supermodel mistress, France's Actress of the year for 2006, Alice Taglioni (The Pink Panther). François (Gad Elmaleh) just happened to be in the published picture, so they paid him to fake a relationship with Taglioni to fool Auteuil's wife, Kristin Scott Thomas (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient, Gosford Park). She's no dummy, knows he's lying, and that's when the fun really begins.Of course, our man François is really in love with Émilie (Virginie Ledoyen - 8 Women, Saint Ange).It is all good fun and credit for that is not only due to a fine cast, but to writer/director Francis Veber (La Cage aux folles), who put together some great lines and a funny situation.Please do not let them make a stupid American remake. It won't possibly be as good as the French version.

Francis Veber has probably seen better days as a filmmaker- he directed the Dinner Game, much appreciated by those who've seen it, and he wrote the original La Cage Aux Foux script- but it's never a bummer to see him pour out his contrived romantic comedies. It's the kind of movie where there is not a whole lot to really praise to the heavens as being truly sharp and original wit and style with the characters and plot, but at the same time I can't think of anything that is necessarily horrible either. Like a breezy enough sitcom with pleasant enough cast members, the Valet makes its presence known early on enough (following the opening titles, which are quite impressive), and it moves along pretty quickly. Maybe too quick, possibly, as it could have more of an impact with further developed characters. The one who gets the most real investment of full dimension is the wealthy adulterous husband, played by Daniel Auteil, who previously played Francois Pignon in another Veber movie, only this time played by the average shmo-like Gad Elmaleh.It would be a little pointless going through the big hoops in describing the plot as it is stemming from a fairly obvious, if clever-obvious, premise (the Village Voice review is basically a whole description of the review, in much more amusing respect than I could muster). But it should be noted that all of the little twists that occur without there being a whole lot to connect with the characters aside from schadenfreude with the rich guy (and his wife instigating it, played by Kristin Scott Thomas in surprising 100% French), because the ones who are the everyday folk are kept a little too simply: girl needs money for her father, but doesn't want to get involved with the man who loves her so. We're told they're kindergarten friends, but there is very little else to go on as to how Francois's connection to her could be so strong, aside for plot convenience. It's like one of those goofy and simple cooked-up scenarios, with devious and rational-minded characters in equal measure, that could pop up in a less savvy programmer that pops up on weekday mornings on Turner Classic Movies.Which is, in an off-handed way, a slight compliment I hope. It's about as light as comedy can get, with the roughest touches of absurdity being the doctor father being treated by his own patients, a woman who's head is caught on fire while her waiter is taken by the sight of the supermodel and valet, and the very last scene, which has a comeuppance that is cheesy, but very funny, and a surprise considering the lack of transvestites in the film. I liked The Valet, but it's nothing to get worked up about to leave the house and rush to the theater to see.