The Valet: Another Unfunny Farce From Francis Veber

Dominique Le Strat/Sony Pictures Classics

Elmaleh finds himself out of Taglioni's league.

Related Content

• Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor Pose in Pretty Places
  March 21, 2012
• Bridal Farty
  December 7, 2011
• Sarah's Key: French Complicity in the Holocaust
  July 27, 2011
• Love Crime: Sexual Intrigue at the Office
  October 19, 2011
• Leaving: Kristin Scott Thomas Falls for a Boy-Toy
  December 1, 2010

More About

• Francis Veber
• Kristin Scott Thomas
• Gad Elmaleh
• Models and Modeling
• Fashion and Style

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Of all of Francis Veber's farces (The Dinner Game, La Cage aux Folles, The Closet, etc.), this is the one that feels most like a sitcom pilot, which is to say it's a farce most forced. One can hear the showrunner's pitch now (translated from the original French, natch): "OK, so, a valet who parks cars at a restaurant across the street from the Eiffel Tower has to live with a supermodel to cover up the affair the supermodel's having with a powerful executive whose even more powerful wife will leave him, bankrupt and humiliated, should she ever find out about the affair. Oh, and the valet's really in love with his kindergarten girlfriend, who needs 32,450 Euros to cover the cost of her new bookstore. But the bookstore owner doesn't want anything to do with the valet—romantically, that is—till she discovers he's living with a supermodel, since she doesn't know it's really a business arrangement. Which it is and isn't, when the supermodel discovers the valet's really kinda good-looking and really quite nice. Jealousy and wackiness ensue." The Valet—starring Gad Elmaleh as the valet, Alice Taglioni as the supermodel, Daniel Auteuil as the businessman, and Kristin Scott Thomas as the (French-speaking) wife—is missing only a laugh track, which is not to diminish its good times, only to admit that it'll inevitably wind up with an English-language makeover and an 8 p.m. slot on ABC.