Something light to start with.

Following the thread and drawing the genealogy tree of French cinema genres can be revealing.

Jean-Paul Rappeneau co-wrote Louis Malle’s « Zazie dans le métro » (1959) and De Broca’s « L’homme de Rio » (1963) before he graduated to directing with « La vie de château » (1965).

Danièle Thompson is Gérard Oury’s daughter. She worked on her father’s films, including « La grande vadrouille » (1966), then wrote screenplays for other directors ; some were comedies : « La boum » (1980) , some were not : « La reine Margot » (1994). In 1999, she directed her first film, a comedy : « La bûche » ; a success, though not of « La grande vadrouille »magnitude.
Francis Veber was a prolific screenwriter for Edouard Molinaro’s « L’emmerdeur » (1973), De Broca’s « Le magnifique » (id.) and many other French comedy films, then premiered as a film director in « Le jouet » (1976). He is the grandnephew of playwright Tristan Bernard.

As a film director, Francis Veber is less prolific than as a writer : ten films in thirty years ; all of them comedies, all of them variations on a limited number of premises, situations and characters, often explored with Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu : the odd couple, the sadist and the masochist, the bully and his victim...

The endless quest of a screenwriter, director and eventually producer toward the perfect comedy formula : the ideal balance of original storytelling, witty dialogues, actors’ direction, rhythm and box office success.

Like a Formula 1 team manager, Francis Veber endlessly works on new and improved versions of the same film, focuses on the tinier details, looks to maximise the power/weight ratio of his projects : to extract always more comedy from always more economical premises.

As his films get leaner and shorter, all bones and muscles and no fat, his sense of economy veers from Formula 1 racing and, past the minimalism of « Nouvelle cuisine », verges on anorexia.

« Le placard » (2000) is so lean and mean as to be hardly nourishing. Even a spectator with a moderate appetite for comedy will leave the cinema without his fill : a bite or two of very tasteful but small « canapés » of sleek and very light comedy, the film version of the stingy specials discounted for lunch by three stars restaurants.

This may be precisely what Veber was trying to achieve : a film that would be an appetiser rather than a full meal, a diet comedy with an appealing business model.

« Le placard » tells the story of Daniel Auteuil, the typical loser of Veber’s films, left by his wife and about to be fired by his company, whose professional and personal prospects suddenly brighten when he passes for gay : a « placard» is a French closet.

The film premises astutely combine the number one French concern : unemployment, with high profile society issues : gay rights and political correctness.

To add to its box office appeal, « Le placard » bets on star power : Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte, Michèle Laroque...

A smart creative move, given their talent ; a profitable business decision despite their pay, as they have consistently proved their ability to draw enough spectators to the theatres to make their performances cost-effective -sexism aside, this is less true of Michèle Laroque-.

The heavy investment on creative talent, including writer-director Veber, is compensated by reasonable physical production costs : the film is shot in studio with a limited number of sets -mostly offices-, requires neither special effects, nor crowds of extras and is only, when edited, eighty-four minutes long.

Veber spins his minimalist tale around his quartet of main characters to funny but rarely hilarious effect. When the complex web of relationships he has created threatens to grow out of control, he abruptly ends the film on an elegant pirouette which feels a lot like a fishtail ending.

This is a gourmet comedy for an educated public which far prefers a few intelligent smiles to roaring laughter.

This is also a barely eighty minute long film if you do not sit through the end titles, which easily fits the busy schedule of its core target audience : the very company executives which it portrays on screen.

« Le placard » is ideally formatted to insert itself between the end of their working day and dinner, where it will provide food for light thought and easy conversation with their significant other or work colleagues.

Its star power and high profile issues, combined with its duration, similarly make the film the likely consensus choice for groups of friends planning an evening out : the film is short enough that you can sit through it without risking starvation -even on a day of pop corn shortage- and, if you do not like it, still have plenty of time to redeem your evening.

In an age of overlong and mediocre films, with the movie-going crowd made of a small bunch of film activists and an indifferent mass dragging their feet to a theatre for lack of better affordable entertainment alternatives, « Le placard » offers a promising business model : the perfect film to watch when you do not really wish to watch one.