Customer Reviews

Apres Vous

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Apres Vous is an excellent way to pass a couple of hours. Antoine (Daniel Auteuil) saves Louis (José Garcia) from hanging himself late at night in a park and because he is the sweet, concerned, reliable guy he is takes on Louis as a sort of human reclamation project. Among the many funny moments throughout the film -- the visit to Louis grandparents' to intercept the suicide letter he has written them where Louis finds out that they sabotaged his relationship with the girlfriend whose loss drove him to the attempted suicide; the funniest job interview since the shoe salesman interview in one of Francois Truffaut's films; and watching the personalities of the two men begin to merge. Their ostensible romantic interests, Christine and Blanche, are secondary to their own buddy relationship even as both of them fall in love with Blanche. By the time the film reaches its bittersweet, but mostly happy ending, Antoine has salvaged a life, Jose has become a superb sommelier and Apres Vous has proved again that no culture does light, life comedy like the French.

It seems when it comes to romantic comedies the French have the corner on the market and technique. APRES VOUS is a bit of pastiche with a storyline that borders on absurd, but in the hands of director Pierre Salvadori it becomes not only an enjoyable farce, but also a tender little statement about compassion.

Antoine (Daniel Anteuil) is the fastidious and ultra compassionate manager of a high-class restaurant who bends over backwards for his staff, his patrons, and anybody who crosses his path who appears needy. He ends up making his girlfriend Christine (Marilyne Canto) take second place to his humanitarian concerns and this puts a strain on his relationship. One evening in a rush to meet Christine he encounters Louis (José Garcia) who is in the process of hanging himself in the park, his desired finale to a life of frustration and loss of his girlfriend Blanche (Sandrine Kiberlain). Naturally Antoine rescues him, feeds him, even brings him home, all the while putting his life on hold to help Louis heal his wounds. Louis is most concerned about the loss of Blanche and Antoine immediately commits his efforts to find her, woo her back for Louis (including revealing Blanche's current boyfriend's infidelity) - but in the process there develops a mutual attraction between Antoine and Blanche! Antoine arranges for Louis to get a job at his restaurant despite Louis' depression and lack of training. Just when everything seems to be turning out for the best, Christine leaves Antoine, and the circumstances surrounding Antoine's salvage of Louis' life change and the ending is somewhat of a French twist!

The acting is fine, the pacing is fine, the only problem is with the characters themselves: we soon tire of Antoine's absurd selflessness and Louis' nerdy helplessness and that hampers the identification with these characters. Other than that the film is a brisk, sweet little French farce that leaves you humming. Grady Harp, November 05

"Apres Vous" is, on the surface, a likable film. While many will get caught up in its slight, and familiar charms, I quickly came to the realization that the film was neither funny enough or original enough to qualify as top-notch French farce (a subclass of films that I quite enjoy). While not a complete disaster, it does take a great and inventive premise and eventually waters it down into predictable romantic fare.

The film starts out so promisingly. Daniel Auteuil (are there any French films he isn't in?) stars as a successful and respected headwaiter at a fine Parisian dining establishment. On his way home one night, he spies a man attempting to hang himself in the local park. This sadsack, played by Jose Garcia, is virtually silent and despondent over a lost love. The rescue scene is quite amusing, and Auteuil (ever the good guy) takes Garcia home with him. Now Auteuil takes on the role of benefactor and protector for his fragile new friend, even as it puts his own relationship in jeopardy. Over the next few weeks, the men bond--Auteuil provides new confidence, a new job, and attempts to locate the woman from Garcia's past.

This being farce--the workplace scenes are outrageously improbable. This actually detracts from the picture because they require such a suspension of disbelief. The search for Garcia's ex is particularly complicated as she is engaged and Auteuil also finds her alluring. But my issue with "Apres Vous" has less to do with the plot than with the characterization of Garcia. Meant to be amusingly insecure, he comes across as annoyingly inept. It becomes extremely difficult to root for him because for much of the picture he is nothing but a blob of tics and complaints. Far from being hysterical, it's impossible to imagine that anyone would have put up with him!

Near the end, much of the humor goes by the wayside as we reach for an obligatory romantic conclusion. I didn't, as I said, terribly dislike this film. However, I did feel that it had the potential to be so much better. It's never a good thing when a farce doesn't keep you laughing--for when you're not laughing, you start to recognize a film's limitations. Slight, unassuming, pleasant--there are worse things out there. KGHarris, 02/07.

Apres Vous is a sweet French film. Its laughs are cute, but not really laugh out loud great. It's really like a typical American comedy with French actors. Not a great legendery French film, but a cute one.

Pure fun!! Enjoyable and very smart. A kind of French twist on the American film "What about Bob".

There's something missing in translation of the humor. The movie isn't all that funny. It also seems a bit overproduced for what it is. Daniel Auteuil is still a great actor but the others aren't that sweet or attractive. I still liked it a little, but not that much. There was something missing from the humor.

The theme of Après Vous, a tasty little French treat, is that no good deed ever goes completely unpunished. More to the point, however, it is a tale of what happens when a Good Samaritan meets a Black Hole whose appetite and need for good deeds never ends.

Antoine is a head waiter at the sort of French restaurant we all dream of finding one of these days. The food looks fantastic, the service appears to be impeccable, and everything would be just rosy if Antoine could just learn to say No. Already late for a date one night, he just cannot help himself from staying after his shift is over and lending a hand to please the overflow crowd of hungry diners. Finally leaving to meet his girlfriend, Antoine makes a fateful decision when he cuts through a park and comes upon the sight of a man trying to hang himself from a tree. Antoine's humanitarian instincts take over and he saves the stranger, and thus begins a long spiral down into both comic absurdity and self-realization.

In short order he has taken the stranger in, fed him, clothed him, and retrieved a now-unnecessary suicide note from the man's temporarily blind grandmother. Trying desperately to keep her from the news that her grandson had tried to kill himself, he must simultaneously try to keep his charge from learning that it was Granny herself who convinced the man's girlfriend to leave him, thereby beginning his suicidal depression.

Unable to stop helping in spite of the cost these noble actions are having on his own life, Antoine gets the man, finally introduced as Louis, a job at Antoine's own restaurant, and then decides to track down Louis' lost love, Blanche, to somehow bring them back together.

What follows is classic opéra bouffe, with four characters, Antoine, his girlfriend Christine, Louis, and Blanche, weaving their way through a wonderfully designed choreography. Along the way, Antoine learns a thing or two about his own life, Louis gets a new lease on his, Blanche finds happiness, and only the long-suffering Christine seems to get the short end of the stick. It all ends, as do all good French films, with a kiss...and a final bit of mayhem.

Yes, there are some logical quibbles and more than a few holes in the plot (not the least of which is how Antoine's restaurant can consistently function so well with half its staff either missing or intoxicated). On an emotional level, the viewer feels more than a bit cheated at not seeing at least some resolution of Christine's plight. But again, these are but minor points. This is not great theater, but it is a pleasing little comedy that anyone can enjoy. All in all, the perfect confection.

The words "farce" and "French" have almost become eternally linked.Moliere got the ball rolling 300 years ago, and still today the French know how to truly make this literary form work.APRES VOUS ("After You")pits France's top comedian Jose Garcia and arguably France's top actor,Daniel Auteuil, in this very quickly paced, twist and turned,always nearly off kilter comedy about a maitre d' named Antoine, (Auteuil) who benevolently saves Louis (Garcia) from hanging himself over the breakup with his girlfriend, Blanche (Sandrine Kibelain). Louis is so grateful, but so depressed, that he attaches himself like a leech to Antoine, thus putting Antoine constantly trying to put Louis' tragic existence back together.Antoine does everything from intercepting suicide notes to getting him a posh position as a wine steward at his restaurant.It is when, though, Antoine attempts to mend things for Louis with Blanche that he faces his biggest,funniest and most illuminating obstacle yet.

I have been watching Daniel Auteuil for years ever since his Cesar win for Jean De Florette / Manon of the Spring (MGM World Films) and The Girl On the Bridge (La Fille sur le pont) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ], but I honestly believe that Auteuil is a more brilliant comic artist.He does things with his eyes and body language that great serious actors are able to do when they do comedy.If you have seen Auteuil in My Best Friend and The Closet then you have already seen just how hilarious this multi Cesar Award winner can be. Put him with Garcia, and this is classic French Farce at it's best. The ending is a TOTALLY unexpected surprise.Highly recommended.Subtitled.

This movie just didn't do it for me. It was painful to watch scenes with Louis (Jose Garcia) at times. His potrayal of a hopeless man while good, gets on your nerves after a while. Antoine (Daniel Auteuil) is unbelievably kind and compassionate so much so that it gets annoying to watch him screw up his own life. Annoying isn't funny.

Daniel Auteuil plays the friend in need in Apres Vous as a maitre`d who tries to get would-be suicide José Garcia back on his feet only to fall for the girl the poor sap tried to kill himself over, Sandrine Kiberlaine, and start to ruin his own life in the process. Despite the strong cast and glossy production values, the material never quite justifies all the expense. It's fairly gentle stuff with few really big laughs but hard to dislike even though it doesn't make the most of the opportunities the premise presents, and the scene with Garcia's grandmother (André Tainsy) is a gem.

While the unsubtitled French PAL DVD has decent extras, Paramount's extras-free NTSC disc comes with only a subtitled widescreen transfer to recommend it.