| Photos (see all 24 | slideshow) | Videos (see all 2 videos) |
| Gad Elmaleh | ... | François Pignon | |
| Alice Taglioni | ... | Elena Simonsen | |
| Daniel Auteuil | ... | Pierre Levasseur | |
| Kristin Scott Thomas | ... | Christine Levasseur | |
| Richard Berry | ... | Maître Foix | |
| Virginie Ledoyen | ... | Émilie | |
| Dany Boon | ... | Richard | |
| Michel Jonasz | ... | André Pignon, le père de François | |
| Michel Aumont | ... | Le médecin | |
| Laurent Gamelon | ... | Paul | |
| Patrick Mille | ... | Pascal Bouliveau | |
| Michèle Garcia | ... | Louise Pignon, la mère de François | |
| Philippe Magnan | ... | Berman | |
| Jean-Yves Chilot | ... | Hervé | |
| Irina Ninova | ... | Marie | |
| Philippe Beglia | ... | Le maître d'hôtel | |
| Noémie Lenoir | ... | Karine | |
| Sandra Moreno | ... | Secrétaire Levasseur | |
| Jean-Pol Brissart | ... | Mauricet | |
| Philippe Brigaud | ... | Monsieur Hervé | |
| Alexandre Brik | ... | Ken, le maquilleur | |
| Thierry Humbert | ... | Paparazzi | |
| Paulette Frantz | ... | La mère de Richard | |
| Thierry Nenez | ... | Perrache | |
| Karl Lagerfeld | ... | Himself / Lui-même | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Robert Hoehn | ... | François Pignon (voice) | |
Directed by | |||
| Francis Veber | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Francis Veber | writer | |
Produced by | |||
| Patrice Ledoux | .... | producer | |
| Francesco Pamphili | .... | co-producer | |
| Francis Veber | .... | associate producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Alexandre Desplat | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Robert Fraisse | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Georges Klotz | |||
Casting by | |||
| Françoise Menidrey | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Dominique André | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Benoît Bechet | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Laurent Bozzi | .... | hair stylist | |
Production Management | |||
| Yann Arnaud | .... | unit production manager | |
| Philippe Desmoulins | .... | production manager | |
| Bernard Seitz | .... | production manager | |
| Tourdjman Valentin | .... | assistant unit manager | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Olivier Falkowski | .... | second assistant director | |
| Alain Olivieri | .... | first assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Lionel Callari | .... | property master | |
| Hervé Guignot | .... | key carpenter | |
| Pascal Leguellec | .... | assistant art director | |
Sound Department | |||
| Bernard Bats | .... | sound | |
| Pierre-Yves Bruneel | .... | assistant sound | |
| Pascal Chauvin | .... | foley artist | |
| Vincent Cosson | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Thomas Desjonquères | .... | supervising sound editor | |
| Séverin Favriau | .... | assistant sound editor | |
| Gérard Lamps | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Alain Lévy | .... | post-synchronization | |
| Armelle Mahé | .... | foley recording engineer | |
| Franck Tassel | .... | assistant foley artist | |
| Jean-Alexandre Villemer | .... | sound recordist | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Roxane Fechner | .... | visual effects set supervisor | |
| Frederic Moreau | .... | visual effects designer | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Yves Agostini | .... | camera operator | |
| Dominique Delguste | .... | additional camera operator | |
| Patrick de Ranter | .... | steadicam operator | |
| Steve Moreau | .... | additional first assistant camera | |
| Christian Thurot | .... | generator operator | |
Casting Department | |||
| Franck Jouard | .... | extras casting | |
| Géraldine Mouton | .... | extras casting assistant | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Florie Vaslin | .... | wardrobe | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Charlotte Mazzinghi | .... | dailies color grader | |
| Gerard Savary | .... | color timer | |
Other crew | |||
| Ghislaine Cauet-Martinotto | .... | production assistant | |
| Françoise Della Libera | .... | production administrator | |
| Dario Faniglione | .... | assistant to production manager | |
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| Everyone Says I Love You | Lost in Translation | Malèna | Temps qui reste, Le | Closer |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Comedy section | IMDb France section | Add this title to MyMovies |
This film, entitled "La Doublure" or "the stand-in" in French but retitled The Valet in English, was produced by old line French studio Gaumont. Veber is the mainstay of conventional French screen comedy. He wrote the Cage aux Folles screenplays and directed The Dinner Game/Le Dîner de cons and The Closet/Le placard (the latter starring Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu) and lot of others. The only trouble is, Veber has done so many of these things now their action is routine-ized. You can see the jokes coming well ahead, especially the visual ones. And some of the jokes are so clunky. A doctor who has to be treated by his patientscome on! Is that really funny enough to carry on to scene after scene? This time Veber's every-guy character François Pignon (here Gad Elmaleh) gets pulled into a scheme by megabucks CEO Levasseur (Auteuil) to extricate himself from charges that he's been cheating on his wife Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas) with his mistress of two years, "top-model" Elena (Alice Taglioni), which obviously he indeed has. A paparazzo has snapped Levasseur in a compromising scene squabbling with the beauty, but Pignon was walking by and his face is also in the background of the tabloid picture. If Levasseur can make it look like Pignon is the boyfriend (don't look into that too closely) he's in the clear.
Pignon has just been shot down after proposing to his childhood sweetheart Emilie (Virginie Ledoyen). His roommate and fellow parking valet (voiturier) at a posh restaurant, Richard (Dany Boon), has just moved out. His girlfriend is 32,000+ Euros in debt at the bookstore she's recently opened. Levasseur talks Elena into moving in with Pignon and pretending to be his girlfriend for the paparazzi to get himself off the hook. Pignon is asking only the 32,000+ Euroes as payment, but Elena has been promised a whopping 20 million Euro guarantee that when this is over, Levasseur will eventually marry her. If Christine were to divorce Levasseur she could take 60% of his company's stock with her. He doesn't really want that. His trouble is he doesn't really want to give up Elena either. He wants his dough, he wants his company, he wants his wife, and he wants his mistress. He's a pretty greedy guy. A snag is Christine has detectives carefully sussing all this out. He hasn't really fooled anybody, except a few paparazzi, who could care less.
Veber uses glitz to liven things up and moderates that diet with niceness. As in Hollywood, moral virtue wins out against the ravages of raw capitalism and somewhat against everyday experience. Of course bad guys do get caught, but not as easily as this. The fancy cars the valets get to drive dazzle us just as does the top-model's beauty (and a Chanel-Lagerfeld runway show happens with the elegantly cadaverous Lagerfeld himself on hand). Kirsten Scott Thomas adds impeccable class to her minor role as the wronged but unflappable wife.
If these were all poor people none of this would happen. This is a case of Money Makes Funny.
The joke-message is money doesn't really matter (I guess). Elena would rather ditch Levasseur than get his 20-million-Euro bribe. She actually likes Pignon he's a decent fellow and he's got those big bright eyes and she gradually builds up his ego while getting a lesson in decency from him, in case she needs one. (One would think she would, but that isn't gone into.) Pignon's girlfriend Emilie relents and accepts his hand and in this process Elena becomes a sort of fashion star fairy godmother.
Veber doesn't engineer a splashy finale. Things end not with a bang but a whimper Pignon telling Levasseur off and leaving him on a lonely road in his car.
Richard Berry as Maître Foix, Levasseur's lawyer who arranges all the "stand-in" business, gives one of the film's juiciest performances, with all-black outfits and tight close-ups to highlight his efficient, plummily amoral manner. It's a nice moment when he asks Levasseur "May I speak to you as a friend?" and Levasseur quickly replies, "No." Auteuil, with his polished lack of affect, is perfect for his role.
This isn't as ingenious as The Closet or The Dinner Game (and other earlier Veber comedies) and maybe that's why we can see the wheels turning so clearly. It's entertaining but lacks wit. There is a great French tradition here but it lies in shreds and tatters. The timing is good (if obvious) and the acting is polished and, where it has room to be, appealing. But this is like doing a crossword puzzle. When it's over, you're done with it forever.