paul2001sw-1 In Pierre Salvadori's film 'Aprez Vouz', Daniel Autiel's character plays a man whose life is ruined after a would-be suicide, whose life he saves, subsequently becomes dependent on him. Some of the comedy is painful, and most of it is stupid, but it's done with a certain underhand style, and the development of the plot, while not exactly plausible, moves the story onwards in unexpected directions. It drags in places, but it's hard to avoid smiling in others - overall, it's hardly a masterpiece of French cinema, but it is a gentle, quirky piece, endowed with a refreshing air of innocence (such as rarely circulates in Hollywood comedy).

tnrcooper This is a sly, thoughtful and honest, rewarding romantic comedy done French style. It is the story of a lovelorn Parisian named Louis (Jose Garcia) whose hurt over his rejection by his love Blanche (the graceful, elegant Sandrine Kiberlain) has prompted him to attempt to take his own life. Fate intervenes, however, and a good Samaritan in the form of nice guy maitre d' Antoine (Daniel Auteuil) prevents the success of the suicide attempt. Antoine feels pain for Louis and takes him in, offering him a place to stay, attempting to boost his spirits, find him a job, and re-integrate him into society in an effort to re-habilitate him. The search for a job is short and mad-cap. The restaurant where Autueil is maitre d' is a high-end restaurant called Chez Jean and they are looking for a sommelier. Louis is set up to succeed in the interview and hilarity ensues. However, obviously, the greatest harm done to Louis was the hurt done to his heart by the break-up. It turns out, via one of the daffiest, wildest scenes you're likely to see, that Blanche did not dislike Louis and that outside factors undid the bond between the two ('nuff said). Wackiness, and heartache, ensues, once Antoine ventures to try to put his new friend back together with the lovely Blanche. He finds himself fighting his own desire to pursue her. This large-scale effort to help Louis put his life back in order obviously puts a strain on Antoine's relationship with his girlfriend, the reasonable, but not unreasonably long-suffering Christine (the capable Marilyn Canto). Obviously the crux of the film is Antoine's loyalty to his girlfriend, his ability to restrain his affection for Blanche, and thereby, his fealty to his friend Louis. The resolution of the film is fair; it is complicated but while perhaps it is not the optimum result for all parties, how often does this happen in life? The film seems to me largely plausible which is always satisfying; I can suspend my disbelief for a brief period of time, but if a film really wishes to simulate reality, it should not test this suspension of disbelief too much. Perhaps the only, or certainly by far the most, unrealistic part of the film was Louis sudden success as a sommelier after a very undistinguished start. Given such ineptitude from the outset, it seems unlikely he would have been kept on, and certainly would not have become as well trusted as he eventually became. That said, the vast majority of the characters and the plot development seems quite reasonable. The performances, Louis' neuroticism, Antoine's desire to be an everyman, and Blanche's well-disguised insecurities, are revealed well. This is a grown-up, satisfying, bittersweet, romantic comedy that.....gasp, even men (and certainly this one did) might like.

largelyhappy Daniel Auteuil is always good value. One of France's top actors he is the master of understatement, telling us more by facial expression and body language than words ever could. However, I think he was sold short by this movie where the other characters, with one exception, were poorly drawn. Without spoiling - he rescues a man about to hang himself because his girlfriend has left him, and becomes entangled in this man's life. But there was nothing about either the guy or his girlfriend which merited someone going out of their way to help. Both totally lacked charisma, Blanche particularly was one of those women you simply want to shake in an effort to get some sort of personality into her. Louis needed a smart punch in the mouth and frankly, when Antoine finally got to the end of his tether with the guy's stupidity and weaknesses, I was looking forward to that as the high spot of the movie. Nothing could have upstaged the marvellous André Tainsy though, who died only a few months after this film was released, aged 93. She was une trésor absolue, carrying off her role with finesse, incredible humour, so understated - and total aplomb. It is a funny film (and if you know Fawlty Towers, it's in that vein) in an excruciatingly painful way where you just know everything is going to go wrong and there are a couple of laugh-aloud moments but given the mood throughout, it has the unlikeliest ending you could imagine.Brilliant music by Camille Bazbaz all the way through and if nothing else his 'Papa Tango Charlie' should have been a massive hit.

noralee "Après vous..." is a gentle, screwball cross between "Cyrano" and "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," or, more accurately probably, its French progenitor "Boudu sauvé des eaux." Daniel Auteuil very expressively plays a much put upon Good Samaritan, whose life and identity get more and more entangled with the object of his personal philanthropy. While the employment and romantic lengths that he goes to in helping his hapless beneficiary, who shares some foibles with TV's Monk, stretch believability, he is very amusing and certainly the viewer gets as caught up as he is in the ensuing complications, even if they do seem a bit endless.One of its charms is that all the characters have saving graces. Unlike similar American movies, characters who are in the way of the inevitable are not shrill and the screenplay, co-written by director Pierre Salvadori, is not mean or condescending to them, as there is equal poignancy and laughter.There may be additional jokes about French restaurants and cuisine that lose something in the U.S. as this is almost as much a restaurant movie as "Dinner Rush" or "Big Night." The English subtitles, when they are not white on white, have poor grammar and spelling, including inconsistency of a character's name.The repeating amusing sounding pop tunes on the soundtrack seem to have some significance, but the lyrics are not translated.