Apres Vous (2003)

A random act of kindness snowballs into vivid proof that "no good deed goes unpunished" in APRES VOUS, the irresistible French comedy that garnered actor Daniel Auteuil (GIRL ON THE BRIDGE, JEAN DE FLORETTE) a Cesar Award nomination for Best Actor. Antoine (Auteuil), a restaurant headwaiter; takes a shortcut through a park one night and spots Louis (Jose Garcia), a despondent, lovelorn stranger, attempting to kill himself. Antoine intervenes-despite Louis’s vehement protests-and hustles him home to his apartment. And it isn’t long before Antoine has decided to fix all that is wrong in Louis’s life. He artfully intercepts a suicide note mailed to Louis’s grandparents…riotously attempts to land Louis a job at his posh restaurant…and boldly attempts to mend the rifts between Louis and his former girlfriend, Blanche (Sandrine Kiberlain). But an unexpected twist of fate upsets Antoine’s grandiose plans for Louis’s "rehabilitation." Here’s a surprising, dazzling comedy treat that sparkles like a bottle of fine wine. Product Description

Missing in Translation?

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. July 20, 2008

This farce is forced

Well, they all are but, when the seams show it's a different matter. It is hard not to like Auteuil in anything he does, but not enjoy the movie he's in - yes, that can be done. I found Apres Vous went from barely enjoyable to barely watchable as it goes from a very poor set up [it may be that the suicide scenes are too sincere for farce, despite the blatant attempts at humor]to girlfriend mix-ups that are not especially - to me not at all - funny.

When farce left the drawing room for the streets it went from lives we can only imagine, dukes, duchesses and serving wenches, to people we might well know, waiters and florists and feeble grandparents. In order to make this amusing [as it could be done of course] requires a lighter hand and maybe a truer understanding of farce than is shown in this flick.
March 11, 2008

True French Farce as only The French Can Do It!

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. March 1, 2008

Not nearly as funny as it could be but hard to dislike

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. January 23, 2008

Real French Fun

Pure fun!! Enjoyable and very smart. A kind of French twist on the American film "What about Bob". May 7, 2007

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