Francis Veber Movies

A man saves the life of a stranger and lives to regret it in this dark comedy from France. Jean (Richard Berry) is a hired killer who has checked himself into a Paris hotel as he waits to complete his latest assignment -- Randoni (Michel Aumont), a former mob boss turned police informant, is going to testify again his old colleagues in court, and Jean is supposed to rub out Randoni before he gets a chance to talk. However, while the chatty mobster is staying in the same hotel as Jean, so is Francois (Patrick Timsit), a press photographer covering the case. Nerdy Francois has just discovered his wife Louise (Virginie Ledoyen) is dumping him in favor of her analyst, Dr. Wolf (Pascal Elbe), and Francois is so depressed he's decided to kill himself. However, Francois' suicide attempt goes ridiculously wrong, and Jean is forced to intervene against his better judgment. Now Jean finds himself playing babysitter to an increasingly melodramatic Francois as his window of opportunity for knocking off Randoni is running out. L'emmerdeur (aka A Pain In The Ass) is a remake of a French comedy of the same name released in 1973; the original version was directed by Edouard Molinaro, while Francis Verber, who wrote the script for the 1973 film, also directed the remake. (Billy Wilder directed an American remake of the same story, Buddy Buddy, released in 1981.) ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Francis Veber wrote and directed this film adaptation (with animated opening credits) of his own play, Le diner de cons, about a competition among a group of friends to see who can find the stupidest person to bring to dinner (as indicated by the original French title, since "con" means someone who's a total dumbbell). The dinners are held each Wednesday night, and French publisher Pierre Brochant (Thierry Lhermitte) has found a world class nincompoop -- Finance Ministry accountant Francois Pignon (Jacques Villeret) who uses matchsticks to build small-scale replicas of monuments. Things quickly go awry after Pierre wrenches his back at golf. He nevertheless makes an effort to attend the dinner with his prize dunce. Francois arrives at Pierre's luxury apartment, but Pierre is in such pain they never exit the apartment for the dinner. Instead, Pierre is trapped in a situation where Francois' stupidity turns his life into a comic hell. In 1993, Villeret created the role of the dimwit onstage during 600 performances of a 27-month run, and the play also had a 1994 London production. In addition to Veber's Oscar-nominated screenplay adaptation of Jean Poiret's La Cage aux Folles (1978), reworked into The Birdcage (1996), other American comedies originated in French screenplays by Veber -- The Toy (1982), The Man with One Red Shoe- (1985), Three Fugitives (1989), and Fathers' Day (1997). Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Aimed at younger audiences, this special-effects filled French comedy centers on the afterlife adventures of two recently deceased fellows, Georges, a gentle chauffeur and his ruthless corporate tiger of an employer, Phillipe. Unfortunate Georges meets his demise at the hands of a gunman just as he discovers that he has won the lottery. Shortly thereafter, his boss Phillipe is murdered by his business rival Martigues. As ghosts, no living soul can see or here Georges and Phillipe who set out together to put their earthly affairs in order before taking off to their respective final resting places. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A man trying to help out his sister finds himself chin-deep in hot water in this screwball comedy. Yuppie businessman Bill Campbell (Matthew Broderick) is close to sealing a $140 million business deal when he gets a phone call from his little sister Marci (Courtney Peldon), who is convinced that her new stepfather, Peter Van Der Haven (Jeffrey Jones), the mayor of the city of Buzzsaw, California, is up to no good. Though understandably wary, Bill heads to Buzzsaw, where he promptly loses his paperwork on the deal in progress and is confronted by the city's remarkable collection of eccentrics, including the crazed fugitive Sally (Heidi Kling), the subnormal Jim Jr. and Jim Sr. (John C. Reilly and Michael Monks), and Ann (Marian Mercer), the mayor's loopy wife. It turns out that Marci wasn't entirely wrong; year's ago, Peter's diabolical twin brother Matt (also played by Jones) was sent to jail in his brother's place on criminal charges, and now Matt has violent revenge on his mind. Out on a Limb features an original score by noted composer and arranger Van Dyke Parks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, Andre is anxious to please his fourteen-year old daughter when he picks her up from her mother (whom he's divorced from) for a vacation on Maritius. She is full of romantic notions, and when she spies a cute windsurfer at the resort, she concocts a story to win him to her side. First of all, she claims to be eighteen, not fourteen. Secondly, she claims that she is the mistress of a dangerous gangster who is dying (her father). Not only that, but everyone believes her. Her father is understandably surprised by these revelations when she is forced to take him into her confidence, but he is a romantic too. He gamely plays the role assigned to him while maintaining a fatherly eye on the proceedings. Gérard Depardieu plays the father in this movie and also in its 1994 American remake. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Loosely based on a popular novel by A.B. Yehoshua, this love story is set in 1973 in Israel. Unlike the novel, the film focuses on three things: a mother's personal crisis as she approaches menopause, her husband's reaction to her difficulties, and her daughter's first sexual awakening. The catalyst for these behavioral changes within the family is a handsome stranger who evokes a torrid response in the wife that sets a series of crises into motion. Meanwhile, the Yom Kippur War looms on the horizon as the future of Israel heads toward another milestone -- and another period of uncertainty. Controversy over a love scene between an adult male and a 15-year-old girl helped to spark interest in the film before its 1985 release in Israel. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This French/Canadian "caper" comedy stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as an oh-so-clever bank robber. Disguised as a clown, Belmondo robs a major Montreal bank, taking Guy Marchand and Kim Cattrall as a hostages. We soon learn that both Marchand and Cattral are actually Belmondo's accomplices in his precisely planned holdup. The trick now is for the threesome to get out of Montreal--a feat comparable to Hannibal crossing the Alps. Chock full of surprising plot twists, Hold-Up is based on a novel by Jay Cronley, which also served as the inspiration for the 1990 Bill Murray vehicle Quick Change. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

TV director James Burrows made his feature debut with this unusual film that's a situation comedy-style twist on both The Odd Couple (1968) and Cruising (1980). The murder of a male model in a gay, beachfront enclave of L.A. warrants an undercover investigation, so police officer Benson (Ryan O'Neal), a straight, macho, law-and-order type, is assigned to partner with file clerk Kerwin (John Hurt), a mild-mannered homosexual. Benson and Kerwin are to pose as a gay couple who have just moved to the area. At first, Benson's slovenly ways drive the fussy Kerwin to distraction, while Kerwin's sexual orientation and prissy manners are a source of constant frustration for straight-arrow Benson. However, the two eventually become friendly roommates, if not exactly friends, and Benson even begins to see the world through Kerwin's eyes. Although he carries a badge, the fussy Kerwin is essentially a civilian, but as he and Benson close in on the murderer, Kerwin reveals himself to be a far more capable cop than Benson assumes him to be. Partners was written by Francis Veber, author of La Cage aux Folles (1978) and The Man with One Red Shoe (1985). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

As if in some way Billy Wilder sensed that Buddy Buddy would ultimately turn out to be his final feature film, Wilder lets loose scatter-shot stingers at a wide range of pop-culture targets -- from sex clinics, to 60 Minutes, to movie references, to disco, to Betamax video recorders. Based on Francis Veber and Edouard Molinaro's L'emmerdeur (known in the United States as A Pain in the A. . .), Buddy Buddy concerns the unlikely pairing of a gruff hitman and a suicidal klutz. Walter Matthau plays a professional killer going by the name of Trabucco, who is on his way to rub out gangster Rudy "Disco" Gambola (Fil Formicola), set to testify against the mob. As Trabucco heads off to a hotel across the street from the courthouse where he plans to set his hit, he runs into the depressed Victor Clooney (Jack Lemmon), who laments the fact that his wife has left him for the head of a weird Californian sex clinic. Trabucco keeps walking and sets up his rifle in a hotel room. He is disturbed by Victor trying to hang himself in the adjoining hotel room and tries to prevent him from killing himself by restraining him, but Victor breaks loose and climbs onto the ledge of the hotel window. To get Victor to come back in, he agrees to drive him to the clinic to see his wife. The two go to the clinic where Victor's wife Celia (Paula Prentiss) informs Victor that she is in love in the head of the clinic, quack Dr. Zuckerbrot (Klaus Kinski). When Victor finds out that Celia is filing for divorce, he heads back to the hotel to kill himself, with Celia and Dr. Zuckerbrot in pursuit. Arriving at the hotel, they plan to inject Victor with a sedative but stick Trabucco with the needle instead. Trabucco reveals to Victor his assignment to kill Rudy, and Victor tries to help him with the killing. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Sunday Lovers is a fitfully amusing study of weekend romantic techniques as practiced in four different cultures. Each episode was filmed by a separate unit in the country where the story was set. "The French Method" (directed by Eduoard Molinaro) finds a businessman (Lino Ventura) trying to secure an important contract through the sexual allure of his secretary (Catherine Salviat)--only to give up the whole enterprise when he discovers that the secretary would be more valuable as a business partner. "An Englishman's Home" (directed by Bryan Forbes) is all about a chauffeur (Roger Moore) who poses as his boss in order to impress a series of sexy stewardesses. "Armando's Notebook" (directed by Dino Risi) finds a middle-aged Italian husband (Ugo Tognazzi) arranging an affair when his wife leaves town. And "Skippy" stars Gene Wilder (who also directed the segment) as an American psychiatric patient who falls in love with the equally neurotic Priscilla Barnes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An international comedy sensation based on a successful French stage play, La Cage aux Folles depicts the farcical chaos that results when a gay man attempts to pose as straight for the benefit of his son's future in-laws. Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) owns a popular nightclub and is the long-time lover of Zaza (Michel Serrault), a female impersonator who is the club's main attraction. Unfortunately, Renato's son Laurent (Remy Laurent) has told none of this to his future father-in-law, an important figure in a morally conservative political organization. Not wanting to ruin his son's chance of happiness, Renato agrees to pose as a straight man, but he finds his familiar habits, and those of the even more flamboyant Zaza, getting in the way at every turn. Zaza is the one who comes up with what he thinks is an ideal solution: he'll dress in drag and pose as Renato's wife. Naturally, the plan does not pan out as expected. La Cage aux Folles' pleasant, unthreatening comic sensibility attracted a large mainstream audience in both Europe and the United States, which was at the time unusual for a film with a homosexual theme. Indeed, the film was popular enough to inspire two remakes: a stage musical and, nearly two decades later, the Hollywood comedy The Birdcage with Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, and Gene Hackman. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

A professional still photographer (Pierre Richard) has long wanted to make a movie from a story about love and politics. When the opportunity arises, he and his lady-love (Miou-Miou) are overjoyed. However, when the producer strongly urges that the movie be transformed into a hardcore pornographic feature, he is seriously tempted to give in, but his strong-willed girlfriend talks him out of it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide