Movies: La Doublure (The Valet)

Why are flimsy romantic comedies so much better when they're in French?

Droopy eyed François Pignon (Gad Elmaleh) is in love with the sweet Émilie (Virginie Ledoyen), but when he proposes marriage, she laughs and tells him that he's like a brother to her—and besides, having recently taken out a large loan to open a bookshop, she is too stressed to think about romance.

Meanwhile, shnozzy CEO Pierre Levasseur (Daniel Auteuil) is struggling to balance the demands of his clever wife (Kristin Scott Thomas)—who controls 60% of their company—and his stunning mistress, leggy supermodel Elena (Alice Taglioni), who is demanding that he divorces and marries her.

Their worlds intersect when a paparazzo snaps a photo of the CEO and his mistress talking on the street, into which Pignon had unwittingly stepped. When the picture hits the papers, Levasseur's wife demands the details of his affair, and, denying everything, the CEO insists that he doesn't know the leggy blonde—she's with the other man in the photo. In order to substantiate his lie, he enlists his lawyer to pay Elena and Pignon to live together in Pignon's homely, cramped apartment and conduct themselves as a couple for the benefit of various photographers and detectives. Hilarity ensues as Pignon's friends, coworkers (he parks cars at an expensive restaurant), and family wonder how he could have landed such a hot girlfriend, and as Levasseur becomes exceedingly jealous, certain that Pignon is moving in on his territory.

Pignon, however, is so heartsick over Émilie that he takes little pleasure in Elena's blonde glory, and Elena is equally as heartsick over Pignon. The supermodel (smarter and warmer than we expect most supermodels to be) speaks to Émilie on Pignon's behalf, and by the end of the film, they are engaged, her loans paid off by the fee Levasseur paid Pignon to live with Elena. Levasseur, still trying to keep both his wife (a divorce would cost him his wealth and his job) and his mistress (at least for one last fling), loses both. The good have been rewarded and the greedy punished.

Except, of course, for Elena. Levasseur is clearly no catch, particularly not for the young, beautiful model, but she loved him nevertheless, and her sadness is palpable. I guess we're expected to get over that easily; after all, she is a supermodel. Can't be too hard to find a replacement sugar daddy.