Jean-Paul Comart
- 1996
An ice-cold, ruthless business woman, desperate to have a baby, makes a deal with a small manufacturer, desperate to save his business from being take over by the woman's larger company. This French comedy, filled with open discussions of the reproductive process, chronicles the result of their bargain. In order to keep his family toymaking business in France, Eric Fleury agrees to marry the 36-year-old, tough executive Sandrine Rey. Unfortunately, he believes that conjugal rights are part of the bargain. Sandrine has other plans. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clémentine Célarié, Patrick Braoudé, (more)
This drama examines three amoral young people living in Paris. 18-year-old Nathalie (Marie Gillain) works in a clothing store and dreams of opening her own boutique in the United States. She shares an apartment with her boyfriend Eric (Olivier Sitruk) and his slow-witted pal Bruno (Bruno Putzulu); she pays the rent while they stay home and watch crime movies on television. All three are looking for a fast and easy way to make some money, so together they devise a plan. Nathalie will hang out in nightclubs, meet prosperous-looking men, and go home with them. Once she's inside their apartments, she'll let in Eric and Bruno, and they'll rob the place of cash and valuables. The plan works well at first, before things go wrong one night and Eric commands Bruno to kill their victim. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Gillain, Olivier Sitruk, (more)
- 1992
Bertrand Tavernier directed this gritty, unglamorous look at the grunge work police officers perform in attempting to uphold the law. Didier Bazace stars as Lucien Marguet, a drug squad cop who is dedicated to getting drugs off the street. Lucien is passionate about eradicating drugs, even though his small drug busts barely put a dent in the rampant drug use throughout the city. But still Lucien persists. He confronts HIV-positive prostitute Cecile (Lara Guirao) about her drug habit and criticizes his paper-shuffling boss Dodo (Jean-Paul Comart) for not making the big drug busts and concentrating, instead, on the small-timers. Tavernier takes his camera into the drab goings-on of a dedicated cop, and the fascination lies in the intensity of Lucien's appointed cause as he continues unappreciated and ignored. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Didier Bezace, Jean-Paul Comart, (more)
- 1991
With his job in the balance, Gérard bets his boss that he can transform bad-tempered street person Lola into television star material. With the inducement of stardom as his lure, he takes Lola in hand and becomes her instructor, sending her to ballet and acting classes, where she misbehaves. Most of her petulance is reserved for Gérard, however, but in the tradition of Pretty Woman and My Fair Lady, in the end he gets the girl and a new star -- in the same package. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judith Reval, Jean-Paul Comart, (more)
The grim post-World War I era in Europe is grist for director Bertrand Tavernier's mill in Life and Nothing But. Philipe Noiret portrays a French major who is supervising the gruesome task of counting and identifying the corpses still strewn over the battlefield. Noiret is obsessed with the notion that, by doing his job above and beyond the call of duty, he can somehow make up for the carnage in which he participated a few years earlier. The major's mission is intercut with short vignettes involving the families and loved ones of the dead, and with the efforts by another officer to find a suitable candidate for an Unknown Soldier testimonial. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Sabine Azéma, (more)
- 1987
Nicolas (Francis Perrin) is the director of a swinging club for singles in this routine sex comedy. In addition to his own amorous conquests, he tries to help his shy friend improve his lonely love life. Nicolas eventually begins to wonder if settling down in a relationship with the right woman is the way to go. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Perrin, Jean-Paul Comart, (more)
- 1986
- PG
This adaptation of Ben Hecht's novel is a satire that unfolds as a mystery story. A Hollywood studio is producing another spectacular when the top billed male stars suddenly show up as corpses, killed before the critics could ever put pen to paper. Under suspicion is a talent agent. Is he guilty or not? These macabre events have everyone off their feed, from the producers down to the lowest gofer. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Poiret, Michel Blanc, (more)
- 1985
Nothing more than a typical, formulaic comedy about a bumbling Boy Scout troop leader (director Gerard Jugnot), this story features the inept counselor facing off with a wild group of scouts in the middle of a camping trip. The Scoutmaster also has to parry a gay colleague who is out to question his sexual preferences, and there are even more disasters waiting to happen. It is enough to make anyone turn in their badge. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Jugnot, Jean-Claude Leguay, (more)
In the French-made film (La Balance), a couple get caught between the French underworld and the cops who pledge to destroy it. The man is a one-time mobster, now pimp named Dede (Philippe Leotard) who's forced to squeal on some mob-land biggies in exchange for his acquittal from any connection to crimes committed and to get the cops off the back of his prostitute wife Nicole (Nathalie Baye). This one's full of chase scenes, profanity (it's dubbed in English), and violence. It was awarded many Caesar awards (the French equivalent of the Oscar). ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nathalie Baye, Philippe Léotard, (more)
