Product Details

• Actors: Michel Blanc, Carole Bouquet, Philippe Noiret, Josiane Balasko, Marie-Anne Chazel
• Directors: Michel Blanc
• Writers: Michel Blanc, Josiane Balasko, Bertrand Blier, Jacques Audiard
• Producers: Daniel Toscan du Plantier
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Miramax
• DVD Release Date: August 5, 2003
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008L3SO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,741 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Dead Tired (Grosse Fatigue)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

Michel Blanc wrote and directed this picaresque comedy, which is small, brainy, and downright odd-exactly like its creator. He also takes the two leading roles: Michel Blanc, and someone pretending to be Michel Blanc. (If that sounds tortuous, it is.) The former, a balding performer with writer's block, discovers that the latter is using his name to lead a far more glamorous life; with Carole Bouquet (also playing herself) as his sidekick, he goes off in search of his alter ego. The movie measures the corrosive effects of fame, and it's wacky and provocative, yet not quite wacky enough-a bolder film would have suggested not just that the hero had a look-alike but that he was genuinely split. Still, there are enough sly jokes and gratuitous digs at Gérard Depardieu to lend it good cheer. In French. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Product Description

DEAD TIRED

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyably quirky French comedy... Poor quality DVD, May 25, 2005

By 

dooby - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Tired (Grosse Fatigue) (DVD)

"Grosse Fatigue" is a dark French comedy that borders on farce. It revolves around stolen identities, namely that of the French comic actor, Michel Blanc. Michel Blanc has been called France's Woody Allen. He is short, bald, sad-faced and plump. A really pathetic sad-sack. Aside from Blanc himself, it also stars other well known French actors such as Philippe Noiret, Carole Bouquet, Josiane Balasko, Charlotte Gainsbourg and even director Roman Polanski, all playing themselves. Michel Blanc finds himself in trouble with the law and with his friends when someone who looks like him takes to impersonating him in public and creating havoc in his name. It gets to the point where he is convinced he is having a nervous breakdown and goes to see a psychiatrist who advises rest in the countryside. There he and his actress friend, the lovely Carole Bouquet, stumble onto his impersonator (also played by Blanc). While Carole Bouquet gives the impersonator a piece of her mind, Michel Blanc surreptitiously cosies up to the idea hatched by the impersonator of using the double to take care of the tasks he himself would like to be rid of. This results in the double taking over his life and the real Michel Blanc being forced onto the streets, a destitute. Along the way, Blanc takes a peek at the nature of celebrity, stardom and towards the end, even has Philippe Noiret deliver a tirade on the demise of French cinema, helpless against the relentless assault of Hollywood. As they walk towards the Arc de Triomphe, Noiret launches into a scathing parody of Hollywood movie dialogue peppered with American curses and swear words, saying that this is all you hear in French cinemas today. He goes on, "We'll all end up as mice in their amusement parks". This is a hilarious movie but also a painful one, and a movie that would probably mean more to a French audience than to foreign ones. There are lots of in-jokes related to French cinema and self-referential comments. A familiarity with French cinema is not a must but it would add greatly to your enjoyment of it. The film itself I would give 4.5 stars.

With regards to this 2005 DVD, this is the exact same DVD released several years ago by Buena Vista. It is absolutely bare-bones. No insert, no extras save for 3 self-serving promo trailers advertising unrelated Miramax releases. Worse still, it is in the wrong aspect ratio. The original theatrical aspect ratio is supposed to be 1.85:1. The DVD transfer is however cropped to 1.66:1 (Standard European TV screen). It is non-anamorphic (NOT enhanced for widescreen TV). The picture quality is just passable. The original color scheme is already rather drab but the transfer makes it positively flat. There are scattered nicks and specks throughout the print. As Buena Vista is a Disney affiliate, I can see where their stick-it-to-the-consumer attitude is from. Disney is notorious for releasing substandard DVDs with a couldn't-care-less attitude toward aspect ratios, print quality and transfer quality. Lately I've noticed Buena Vista (along with other studios) re-releasing their old DVD titles, advertised as supposedly "new" releases, without bothering to remaster them or improving on them in any way. The only good thing about this DVD is that it offers you the choice of removing the yellow English subtitles. This DVD deserves at most a rental recommendation. Better to wait till this film re-emerges under a different distibutor.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!, April 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dead Tired [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Even though I didn't know who half these actors were, no matter. It's just as entertaining, witty and FULL of twists and turns. A very funny movie.

5.0 out of 5 stars BRILLIANTLY SHOCKING FRENCH COMEDY, August 20, 2004

By 

HH (Sherman Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Tired (Grosse Fatigue) (DVD)

The humour is quite sick and funny with a lot of surprise cameos. Simply put anyone who doesn't find this wonderful, deserves to see a full series of "Friends" back to back.