Movie Notes: The Closet
= 4 stars
Starring Daniel Auteuil, Gerard Depardieu, Michele Laroque
Directed by Francis Veber
Synopsis
About to lose his job, the unremarkable Francois (Daniel Auteuil) pretends to be homosexual in order to attract attention. Hilarity ensues.
The Good
- The biggest joke is that rumors spread that Francois is gay, yet he doesn’t change his behavior one bit. So everyone’s perception makes all the difference, and the humor is at the expense of everyone snickering behind his back. Overall, the film succeeds in mining a sensitive subject for humor yet doesn’t cross the line into being offensive.
- Just the right amount of unpredictability, so I wasn’t sure where things were going or who would end up with who.
- Gerard Depardieu has a smaller but amusing role as homophobic co-worker Felix Santini, who makes more effort to be friendly with Francois to cover up his own security, but takes things too far.
The Bad
- Some subtleties of interpersonal interaction feels lost in translation.
- All the characters seem a little sex-obsessed, but maybe that comes with the territory of working in a condom factory.
Conclusion
Cute workplace comedy that deftly manages some sticky subject matter. A decent rental.
IMDB: The Closet
Wikipedia: The Closet
Rotten Tomatoes: The Closet (86%)