Customer Reviews

The Closet [VHS]

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You may not know the name of French director Francis Veber, and his funny French comedy "The Dinner Game" (1999), but if you are fond of comedy, you might have seen the films like "Father's Day" and "Birdcage." Yes, the last two Hollywood outings are actually remakes of his works, and though not all of his films are masterpieces, "The Closet" alone would make you remember his name. This film is that funny.

Daniel Auteuil is M. Pignon, who has been working for a condom factory as an accountant for 20 years, now he happens to learn that he is going to be fired. Shocked by the news, he thinks of jumping from the window to kill himself when an old man living in the next room gives a tip; "pretend you're gay." For political reasons (and commercial ones too) the company cannot fire him as they are afraid of being accused of having discriminating attitudes. It succeeds, and M. Pignon is happy ... for a while.

Because unexpected things happen like chain reaction; "sexual harrassment" from his beautiful female boss (she has her own reason), sexual advance from his co-worker and rugby coach (he has his own reason, too), and so on. The story goes on with twists and turns, finally leading to the confidence newly established in M. Pignon.

Though the ending is not as good as it should be, and some parts are a bit incredible, the cast is so great that those flaws are all ignored in the end. Daniel Auteuil's dead-pan humor is always effective, and funniest is his face when he is in a parade wearing a huge tip of condom on his head. Also humorous is Gerard Depardieu, whose character experiences a total transformation.

"The Closet" has some satire on our attitude about sexuality, but it doesn't preach them. Rather, the film handles them with a lighter tough, which avoids the pitfall of being too gloomy or philosophical. The fact is, the film is too light for some; and clearly the director hesitates to push some interesting points the film presents. But "The Closet" should be about M. Pignon, who, just like the protagonist of the same name in "The Dinner Game," is about Mr. Everyman. His journey to a new life is what we see, and we enjoy watching. As such the film succeeds, and it is because of fantastic Daniel Auteuil.

Francis Veber, the King of French Farce, keeps cranking 'em out at a rate that would boggle even the mind of Georges Feydeau. His latest, "The Closet," features nebbishy accountant Francois--mocked by his colleagues, abandoned by his wife, dissed by his son and about to be fired--who schemes to keep his job by pretending to be gay. Francois' gay psychologist neighbor advises him not to change anything about himself--what will change is other people's perception of him. That's not the only thing that changes in Veber's smoothly written, surefire-as-clockwork farce. Francois' life ends up changing in unforeseen ways, as do the lives of the people around him--particularly that of Santini, the homophobic personnel manager who must suddenly play up to Francois in order to keep his own job. All sorts of crazy complications ensue, and the denouement is appropriately sunny. "The Closet" won't change your life, but it will leave you feeling happy, and you will marvel at the sheer star power lavished on this lightweight tale. Daniel Auteuil and Gerard Depardieu, France's answer to Kevin Spacey and Robert De Niro, play Francois and Santini; in the supporting cast are Thierry Lhermitte, Michel Aumont and Jean Rochefort, which is roughly equivalent to having Richard Gere, Gene Hackman and Michael Caine in the supporting cast of an English-language movie. These superb professionals know exactly what is required of them, and deliver it gift-wrapped. As crazed as the comedy gets, it is the quiet individual moments that will really leave you rolling in the aisles: whether it's Auteuil's sick embarrassment at sitting on a Gay Pride float wearing a condom hat, or Depardieu's blissed-out, zombie stare as his world crumbles around him, you know that you are in the hands of master farceurs.

This French film is one of the funniest movies ever, with great writing and a cast of huge talents.

It all begins in a condom manufacturing plant with a boring accountant (Daniel Auteuil) who overhears from a bathroom stall that he will be fired from his position. Upon returning home he informs his ex-wife and son of his pending predicament and vows to find another job in order to keep them in alimony. He meets a new neighbor (Michel Aumont) who convinces him not to jump from his balcony and the fun soon begins. Together they concoct a story to save his job believing that if he can convince his company that he is really gay he will save his position by suggesting a prejudice exists. The company sends its dogs out to fend off any chance of a lawsuit and uses the services of its most macho employee (Gerard Depardieu) to "romance" away any perceived distaste for the new discovery. From here the story spins and weaves into a web of hilarious lies that will have you rolling on the floor in laughter.

This film is so well written and easy to follow that the sub-titles are easily accepted by even the most English of all English speakers. While some of the references in this film might be taken harshly by those of the gay persuasion it is really only a lighthearted stab at all of the stereotypes that lurk within a corporate existence. Boring accountants could also take offense for that matter! Auteuil is fantastic as the bumbling lead, Depardieu is never better as the macho man who eventually finds his true passion, Aumont wonderful as the helpful neighbor with a few secrets of his own, the incomparable Jean Rochefort adds his own brand of humor to the film cast as the company CEO and the cast just continues into a complete brilliance.

If you love to laugh, especially at yourself, this film will keep you in stitches and one viewing will leave you wanting more. For collectors of comedy films this one is a must have. So forget your hang-ups and enjoy a moment out of whatever closet suffocates you.

A rubber company that specializes in manufacturing condoms is downsizing, and Francois Pignon (Daniel Auteuil) is about to be laid off. Pignon is an extremely ordinary and dull person, and no one can think of a good reason to keep him on. Also, he is still in love with his ex-wife and tries to be a father to his estranged son, but neither of them return his affection. Getting his pink slip sends Pignon into a short-lived depression, when his new neighbor hatches a scheme to help Pignon keep his job. Belone, the neighbor, doctors some photos of men in a gay bar--putting Pignon's face on one of the men--and sends them in an anonymous envelope to his employer. He tells Pignon to not even worry about acting gay; just stay the same, he says, and everyone around you will alter *their* behavior. The main objective is, of course, to scare a condom company out of firing a gay man, and as expected, all manner of hilarity ensues.

Director and screenwriter Francis Veber's "The Closet" rides the wave of international success stirred by his 1998 film "The Dinner Game" without providing as well-structured or as consistent a story. The first half of the film is every bit as funny as the setup to "The Dinner Game," supplying nearly a dozen fascinating characters (all wonderfully acted by a superb ensemble cast), and promising much. Part of concept of the film deals with shifting the focus from Pignon to the people around him. Unfortunately, in an 80-minute film, Veber is unable to complete even a minimal story arc for each character--which leaves the film feeling somewhat disjointed in the end.

Perhaps it is to Veber's detriment, in a film like this, that he writes such consistently fascinating characters; if the characters were less intriguing, the audience would not protest when one of them disappeared or suddenly and inexplicably turned into a simple caricature. For example, Gerard Depardieu plays Santini, an office homophobe who must begin to "play nice" with Pignon or risk losing his own job. For a while, this relationship promises the sort of intense character interaction at which Veber excels. Soon, however, Santini undergoes a comic but inexplicable personality change and is marginalized from the film. Santini's role in the story is replaced by a smattering of vignettes which show other office workers being alternately cruel and kind toward Pignon.

Additionally, like Veber's previous film, "The Closet" obtains its comic premise from a social injustice. This film, however, is slightly more blatant in its message-oriented nature. In message films, an audience often has to endure forced dialogue--sometimes even entire forced scenes--which are not organic to the piece. While "The Closet" is not as preachy as it might have been in the hands of another director, the occasional sermonizing does detract from the film.

A very funny movie with some interesting twists--Daniel Auteuil plays an accountant about to be downsized. Divorced and avoided by his teenaged son he is ready to jump off his balcony when a new neighbor stops him, and suggests that to keep his job, he should "come out of the closet"--his company, which manufactures condoms, will not want to appear to have fired him for his sexual preferences. When he protests that he cannot act gay, his friend asserts that he will not need to change--others' perceptions of him will. Strangely enough, this subterfuge brings Auteuil and almost everyone in his life to confront and become who they really are--to come out of their own closets, so to speak. In French with English subtitles, which are pretty accurate.

If you are up for a fun entertaining light movie - The Closet is precisely what you are looking for.

Here is the premise of the movie: Pignon is an employee at a rubber factory. He is in his early 40's, his wife left him two years earlier, and he is still madly in love with her, his only teenage son doesn't want to have anything to do with his "loser" dad. Pignon's co-workers ridicule him whenever possible, and he accidentally finds out from one of them that he is about to get fired. When everything seems lost and Pignon is ready to put an end his misery, he meets a new neighbor - an ex-psychologist, specializing in big industrial corporations. He advises Pignon to start pretending that he is gay, hoping that the company's president will be too afraid of an imminent sexual-discrimination suit and will not fire him. Gérard Depardieu plays a homophobe, who as a result of a prank, is manipulated into treating Pignon very nicely... Or way too nicely, as many think. A string of hilarious situations ensues.

The Closet is definitely a not cinematic masterpiece, but it's a good movie, without a doubt. It's humane and compassionate - showing the anguish of lonely people, and at the same time is witty, funny and charming. Gérard Depardieu, and Daniel Auteuil give a great performance. Definitely worth watching.

How much of your life is what you make of it, or what others make of it for you?
Ms Pignon (Daniel Auteil from Jean de Florette) is a mousy, grey, drab accountant,working in a condom factory, that can't even get in the company picture. He finds, while in the bathroom from the chief of personnel (Gerarad Depardieu)that he will be laid off. Depardieu is also the coach of the company rugby team, a homophobic macho maniac.
Everybody seems to know that he's getting canned but him.
While trying to kill himself by jumping off a window, his new neighbor stops him. "It's my car down there, you'll wreck the roof" His neighbor, an industrial psychologist hatches a plan to save Pignon's job. He alters some gay pictures to make it seem that Pignon is gay. He cannot be fired anymore, or the company, with a large gay clientele would suffer a public relations nightmare.
He does not change anything in his life. His words, his actions, are exactly the same, but the reactions of everybody in his life to him change dramatically. His ex-wife, (Alexandra Vandernoot from The Dinner Game) who won't even take his calls, now answers the phone. Even his son, who refuses to dine with him because he is so drab, finds him interesting and cool after seeing him in the gay pride parade.
The whole movie is a study in reality vs perception, with a comic French touch that will have you laughing out loud.

Next the cast.
I've already mentioned Auteil and Depardieu, but the rest of the cast is a who's who of modern French cinema.
Thierry Lhermitte, and Alexandra Vandernoot from The Dinner Game; Jean Rochefort from The hairdresser's husband and The Professional.

If you like mainstream movies, or slapstick, then you probably are not reading this. If you've come this far, then your comedies must be intelligent and also perhaps sarcastic, and if so, this is the movie for you.

Who is Francois Pignon?
He is a character that Francis Veber has used in many of his films, from La Chevre to the excellent Diner Des Cons, and he appears again in his latest Le Placard/The Closet.
Pignon is always a lonely man, separated or divorced, with no friends or social life,accident prone,in short down on his luck, an average man living a dull existence, and invariably an oddity in a society that applauds people with good looks, and success professionally and socially..The very type of people that look down at Pignon and make fun of him..Hero vs anti Hero.
This is Francois Pignon and Veber's character in the films should be looked at in this context, regardless if one film is funnier than the other.
Certainly Diner Des Cons is funnier than Closet, and if you expect the same laughs then you will look at Veber's latest with less enthusiasm, and appreciate it less. Veber did not intend to repeat the same formula he used in Diner Des Cons, but give us a story about another Pignon, in a different context and situation.
There is more poignancy in the Closet,and it is a bittersweet comedy, like the French can only make.
The pretext of pretentious gayness to keep his job, is only a backdrop to Pignon's predicament at the hand of society, but it is a very clever insight nevertheless, into the corporate atmosphere and political correctness vs homophobia.
Yet what I found very interesting about the gay angle, is how Pignon discovers a strenght and confidence he never thought he had by pretending to be gay.The way his colleagues and family react to him, from ridicule, to excessive friendliness, to pride, (from his own son, thinking it is very cool), is very interesting.

The acting I though was very good. Assembling some of the best French working actors today , including Depardieu, Rochefort, Lhermitte and of course Auteuil.
He plays Pignon in a straight faced manner..but not boring as some reviewer saw it, because his performance reflects so well the character he is playing. All Pignons are boring! Whereas in Diner Des Cons, Pignon had the gift of talking! even in the wrong moments, saying the wrong things, and entertaining the viewer in the process, Pignon of Closet had deep anxieties, and he shows them.
The beauty about Francois Pignon is that he triumphs at the end. He saves the day..manages to make people happy, or clear the mess he put himself or others in, becoming the most unlikely hero. and this is Veber's triumph and with it The Closet.
It is a wonderful film, that I hope Hollywood will not remake, because all Veber's american remakes,(Three Fugitives, The Toy, Birdcage) even the ones he directed himself, lose their magic,
the magic of Francois Pignon.

Besides the terrific acting--especially from Daniel Auteuil and Gerard Depardieu, writing and directing, what I liked about "The Closet" was how the Auteuil character did not ham it up after he decided to pretend he was gay--he just played himself. A lot of Hollywood movies would not have the guts to show a gay man behave "normally." They would have him behave like a screaming idiot like the Kevin Kline character in "In and Out." I thought it was interesting to note that when the Auteuil character was straight, meek and boring--the people around him perceived him that way so he wound up behaving that way: not wanting to create waves. A perfect example of this is at the beginning of the movie when he bows out of the company photograph. However, when he pretended to be gay, the same people changed their outlook on him and saw him as an exciting, dangerous, sex machine. As a result, he behaved that way by taking charge of his life. Can you picture the Auteuil character when was straight, meek and boring bursting into the CEO's office and accusing his boss for sexual harrassment, telling his ex-wife off that he doesn't find her interesting anymore, or making love to his boss on an assembly line? No way. This is the behavior from the Auteuil character when he is pretending to be gay. He is merely fulfilling the self-fulfilling prophecy and that is why I liked this movie: it is making a statement that society forms our behavior. If we look like such nice people then we must behave that way and if we don't, they'll say "That's not like you!" But if we come across as loud and aggressive and we behave in a not very nice way, they'll just write it off by saying that's just the way they are. So what am I trying to say here? That the people who behave in a rude manner are rewarded and the people who behave in a polite manner are condemned. That's exactly what happened in "The Closet." When the Auteuil character was behaving in a polite manner by not wanting to create waves--he almost loses his job. But when he accuses his boss for sexual harrassment--he not only keeps his job but he gets the girl too. There is something wrong with a society when these things occur. That is why I liked this movie--it dealt with these isues. That and also because it was extremely funny.

This 2001 French farce made me laugh out loud at times. That's because the theme is so funny. A mild-mannered nerd who's been working as an accountant in a condom company for 20 years is about to be fired. In order to keep his job, he takes the advice of a neighbor and lets everyone think he is gay. Here's were the theme of political correctness and its absurdities really take off. Daniel Auteuil plays the lead and he's great. The expressions on his face are worth a thousand words.

The plot thickens, of course, as Gerard Depardieu, a co-worker, macho rugby player, and very stupid fellow, lets himself be set up by some pals of his to befriend Daniel Auteuil. What follows are some really funny scenes. And then, Auteuil's female boss tries to seduce him. The acting and the timing of the jokes were perfect and the concept was wonderful.

It's a good thing it was only 85 minutes long, however, because with a film like this there is only one central joke and there are limits as to how far it can go. It might have been even better if it was cut to be even shorter. I do recommend this film, however. I loved the theme and the acting. And found it a pleasant evening of viewing pleasure.