Synopsis

Francis Veber (The Dinner Game and The Closet), the living master of French farce, has combined his classic elements of hilarious slapstick with quick-witted dialogue in the new film The Valet. The tale begins when François Pignon, (Gad Elmaleh) a restaurant car service valet at a posh Paris hotel gets caught-up in a billionaire industrialist’s sneaky infidelities. Veber’s plot quickly turns on the fall guy, when François – an innocent passerby – is photographed by a paparazzo leaving the hotel along with Pierre Levasseur (Daniel Auteuil), the wealthy tycoon and his beautiful supermodel mistress Elena (Alice Taglioni). In a desperate attempt to avoid an ugly divorce with his wife Christine, (Kristin Scott Thomas) Pierre’s scheming lawyer Maitre Foix (Richard Berry) concocts an outrageous plan. By paying the valet a large sum of money to live with Pierre’s mistress, the two men hope to mislead the tabloids and, most importantly, hide the affair from his wife. Meanwhile, the ruthless Pierre must convince the stunning Elena to live with François in his cruddy apartment until the dust settles. All the while, continuing to reassure his wife that the other man in the photo, François, is really Elena’s boyfriend. Francis Veber’s intricate and lively plot, tick-tock timing and variety of unusual characters make The Valet a hilariously good time.

Directed by Francis Veber
Written by Francis Veber
In French, with English subtitles
France, 2007
85 minutes, Rated PG-13