The always popular Gerard Depardieu (102 DALMATIANS, VATEL) stars in a warmly engaging comedy that shows how one little white lie can change everything! A dull and lonely accountant working at a condom factory, Francois (Daneil Auteuil) meekly endures office jokes and backroom whispers that he’s about to be fired … usually instigated by his loutish coworker Felix (Depardieu). But that all changes when a rumor about him spreads around the office! Much to his surprise, this funny falsehood becomes the catalyst that sends Francois’ life on an unexpected and hilarious turn for the better! As this outrageous, critically acclaimed story unfolds, you’ll laugh along with Francois as he keeps this improbable charade going in an inspired bid to save his job and transform his life!French humor, which isn’t exactly subtle, is delivered via an especially broad premise in The Closet. A nebbish (Daniel Auteuil) who works at a condom manufacturer learns he’s about to be fired; with the help of his neighbor, he pretends to be gay so his boss can’t fire him without seeming prejudiced. Then a bigoted coworker (Gerard Depardieu) tries to worm his way into the nebbish’s good graces because he’s afraid of being fired. In the wrong hands, The Closet could be ham-fisted slapstick. What makes this movie truly delightful is the superb understatement with which every gag is handled; even the sight of Auteuil wearing a giant condom tip on his head has an impeccable deadpan grace. All the performances are excellent; Depardieu’s smarm is particularly delicious. Each scene takes a new twist of social discomfort and befuddlement in this winning comedy. –Bret Fetzer
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June 6, 2008
#1
This is one of the most offensive and anti-gay movies I have ever seen. Don’t let the title or the box fool you. Every character in this movie is oozing with homophobic sentiment. I was shocked that such a film could come out of France. If you’re a homophobe and want to sit and watch a bunch of hateful people sit around and attack and harass (verbally and physically) a man who pretends to be gay to save his job, then rent this and snack on a can of worms.
HIDEOUS!
June 7, 2008
#2
This is uncomfortable drivel. O look, of course it’s funny to some extent – Gerard Derpadieu mouths off homophobic abuse, not once but repeatedly, and his derision is (surprise, surprise) a shield against his own inclinations – yes, you will laugh, but essentially this same joke is repeated a dozen times, by which time you might well have ceased laughing; then Gerard has some kind of mental breakdown, and mental illness is, in the best Hollywood tradition, a source of much merriment. This cliche is typical of the entire film – other examples: if you need a villain, make sure you cast a foreigner (thus Daniel Auteuil’s ex-wife is Dutch); to sustain a plot you must have an implausibly successful romance (I think the writer consulted ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ for some plot tips here); the cliches surrounding homosexuality are also deployed relentlessly, and reflex and habit will have you laughing along with the rest of the audience, at least for a while – just don’t think too much about why you are laughing, ‘don’t think too much’ being, I suppose, a worthy motto for most present-day popular cinema. Personally, I wish that I’d contented myself with viewing the trailer and giggling at the poster featuring Daniel Auteuil wearing an oversized condom – the film itself adds little to these pleasures.
June 7, 2008
#3
To be sure, Francis Verber has talent. With the wildly funny “Dinner Game”, he showed that he was able to weave hilarious situational comedy. Unfortunately, “The Closet” does not pick up where “The Dinner Game” left off. There’s nothing awful about it, but in a failed attempt to put a new spin on Verber’s creation Francois Pignon, “The Closet” never delivers.
Francois Pignon (Daniel Auteuil) is considered an idiot by many who work with him at a condom factory and is on the verge of being fired. He gets word of this, and dismayed turns to his new neighbor Belone (Michel Aumont). Belone suggests a tricky scheme to save Pignon’s job: pretend that he is gay and the company will never fire him if they want to save their image. The scheme is working, and on the other side of the spectrum there is another prank being played. Homophobe Felix Santini (Gerard Depardieu) is being pressured to act nice to Pignon to save his job, and unexpected things begin to happen.
Francois Pignon is one of the funnier characters I have encountered in recent years. In Verber’s previous film he was a flat-out idiot, meaning well but always saying the wrong things and the wrong times. In “The Closet”, everyone calls him an idiot, but I don’t buy it. He seems perfectly intelligent to me. Pignon is translated here as a boring punch line without the setup. Much to my surprise, I found that I couldn’t care less what happens to him over the course of the film. One of the most valuable pieces of advice I could give to Verber from an audience member’s perspective is: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Only partly because of Pignon’s shortcomings does the film fall flat. Most of the jokes just aren’t funny. They’re the same sort of recycled gay jokes we get all the time in movies. The screenplay feels worn and tired, and what could’ve been a breath of fresh air becomes recycled and stale. Verber is merely taking an interesting idea and presenting the obvious “What-ifs” that immediately pop into one’s mind when hearing a synopsis about the film.
The acting was incredibly sub-par as well. Daniel Auteuil, who is on the whole a very good actor gives a performance as monotone and boring as Pignon is (see him in “The Widow of Saint-Pierre” if you really want to see what he’s made of). Gerard Depardieu is fair, but doesn’t show enough desperation that we are told Felix so obviously has. Michele Laroque breathes a little more life into her character Mlle Bertrand, Pignon’s secretary; she is the highlight of an ensemble that is relatively uninteresting and never shows enough range.
“The Closet” is a wasted opportunity. In situational comedy, we need to care about or at least understand the characters to a certain extent or it will be impossible to laugh when they get into trouble. While Verber seemed like he could handle that, in “The Closet” it doesn’t seem he believes in his characters; as if he believes that the audience need only take them at face value. Unfortunately, “The Closet” ranks as one of the most disappointing ventures of the year.
June 7, 2008
#4
Yes, the acting is good, and the filming is more than adequate. But the truth is that this film is not very funny. The problem is the script. It is bland and sometimes confusing. There really is no point to it. (Is it for or against homosexuality?) The “R” rating is strictly for a few seconds of fake sex filmed at a distance. And there is no point to that either. This movie is simply not up to Veber’s zany La Cage Aux Folles or his mildly humorous The Dinner Game.
June 7, 2008
#5
This is an original film, plenty of laughs and smart situations. Possibly the finest comedy in years.