Michèle Laroque Movies

A beleaguered housewife watches her dreams come true when her obnoxious husband dies, in actress-turned-director Isabelle Mergault's romantic comedy The Merry Widow (AKA Enfin veuve). For years, Anne-Marie Gratigny (Michele Laroque) has buckled beneath the weight of her condescending husband, Gilbert's (Wladimir Yordanoff) constant oppressiveness. An unrelenting boor, he belittles her, chides her, and torments her - until the day that he perishes in an automobile accident. Anne-Marie, of course, is thrilled by this turn of events. Among other things, it will give her the freedom to abscond with her extramarital lover, Leo (Jacques Gamblin), a builder of boats who is preparing to head off to China on business and to take Anne-Marie along. Unfortunately for Anne-Marie, these plans are dashed when her unwittingly intrusive family moves in to "console" her and upsets her relationship with Leo. More problematically, Anne-Marie finds that she can never quite bring herself to the point of confessing her true feelings about any of the tumultuous events that have happened. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A simple cottage in the country becomes an increasingly difficult matter for cash-strapped husband in this French comedy. Charles Boulin (Dany Boon) works for a mortgage company, where he has the unenviable job of overseeing the repossession of homes when owners default on their loans and supervising the renegotiation of financing agreements. Charles's work has taught him to be frugal, and while he shares a comfortable and spacious apartment with his wife Anne (Michele Laroque) and their teenage daughter, their lives are short on luxury. Anne has become increasingly and vocally weary of Charles's reluctance to part with a franc, and he decides to surprise her for their anniversary with an unexpected extravagance -- a vacation home in the country. Charles is able to find a bargain with the help of realtor Jean-Pierre Draquart (Daniel Prevost), but he soon learns Jean-Pierre was far less than honest about the condition of the house, which stretches the boundaries of the phrase "fixer-upper." Charles hires a pair of handymen to get the place in order, but Mouloud Mami (Zinedine Soualem) and Donatello Pirelli (Laurent Gamelon) prove to massively incompetent, and Charles's "bargain" is becoming perilously expensive. Matters go from bad to worse when Charles loses his job and he has to find a way to pay the growing stack of bills on the house, all without spoiling the surprise for Anne. La Maison du Bonheur was the first directorial effort for actor Dany Boon. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Four Jewish women juggle love, sex, new relationships, work and parenthood in this romantic comedy from France. Isa (Michele Laroque) has split with her husband, and is busy looking after their three children while running her business, a beauty salon. While Isa has precious little spare time, she's trying to make room in her life for a British businessman who has struck her fancy. Alice (Valerie Benguigui) is Isa's sister, and has come to envy her sister's single status after a few years with her husband Gilles (Alexandre Astier), who appears to hate personal grooming as much as he loves golf. Alice's misgivings about her marriage grow stronger when she becomes friends with a handsome and charming divorced dad. Lea (Aure Atika) has recently parted ways with her husband, and devotes her days to pampering herself when she isn't taking care of her child. And Nina (Geraldine Nakache) has never been married and is looking for a man to settle down with, but she lacks confidence about her appearance even though she's young and pretty. Comme T'y es Belle (aka Hey Good Looking) was the second feature from director Lisa Azuelos, and was a major box office success in France. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

While there are plenty of stories about gay men who have pretended to be straight for the sake of their careers, this tart comedy from France considers the dilemma of a straight man doing just the opposite. Francois Pignon (Daniel Auteuil) is an accountant whose personality is bland to the point of being nonexistent; he's been down in the dumps ever since his wife left him two years ago, and he becomes even more depressed when he learns that his boss is planning on firing him after 20 years of loyal service. Francois is seriously considering suicide until his next-door neighbor Belone (Michel Aumont) comes up with a plan to save his career. Belone finds some photos snapped at an especially randy gay nightclub, and using his computer, he pastes Francois' face over that of one of the participants. He sends copies of the doctored picture to several of Francois' co-workers, and soon everyone at the office is convinced the quiet little man has a flamboyant secret life. The firm's CEO, Kopel (Jean Rochefort), now has second thoughts about firing Francois, since letting an employee go who is known to be gay could invite a sexual discrimination suit. Meanwhile, the firm's public relations man, Guillaume (Thierry Lhermitte), is dealing with Felix (Gérard Depardieu), an employee relations executive who is well known as a narrow-minded thug. In order to counter charges that he's a rampant homophobe, Guillaume instructs Felix to make friends with Francois, and soon Felix is spending so much time with Francois (while fighting his own internal revulsion) that his wife wonders if he's seeing another woman. Le Placard was writer and director Francis Veber's first film after his international hit Le Diner de Cons -- in which the leading character was also named Francois Pignon. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

James Huth co-scripted and made his directorial debut with this French comedy offering inventive and appealing aspects not unlike the memorable innovations that distinguished Delicatessen (1990). Crime fiction editor Claire (Michele Laroque of Ma Vie en Rose) lives in a jazzy, glass-bricked duplex apartment and works for a publisher who displays vintage pulp art on the company's line of thrillers. Attending her dinner party, on the eve of her 35th birthday, are jack-a-dandy Sacha (Antoine Basler), proper physician Charles (Michel Vuillermoz), and cool Hakim (Zinedine Soualem). When Claire surprises the assembled group by announcing that she intends to choose a husband from the trio, the men resent the idea, putting Claire in an edgy frame of mind. The fourth dinner guest, Ruitchi (Gilles Privat), isn't attracted to women, so he's the odd man out. Straight-arrow Cop Cellier (Albert Dupontel), keeps returning to the door while searching for two burglars in the neighborhood. Claire is in the kitchen cooking duck with blood sauce when an accident results in one less potential husband. As the evening wears on, a process of elimination does away with others on her list. The unpredictable story takes place almost totally in the stylish decor of Claire's apartment. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

A genteel teacher finds himself out of his element when his request to be assigned to a Parisian school lands him in an impoverished, multi-cultural ghetto suburb outside of Paris. There Laurent Monier (Gerard Depardieu) finds himself forced to live in a project apartment and teach classes full of underprivileged, tough and troubled youth. His former spouse is also a teacher, but she got a plumb job in an upscale part of Paris while Laurent -- who moved to Paris to be near her -- struggles to keep his car intact and to stay alive on the dangerous streets. Still, he does his best in the schoolroom and eventually earns the respect of his students. Trouble brews however, when school gossip gets out of hand and threatens to destroy his career. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Serge Perrin is 23 and unusually happy at the prospect of spending the rest of his life in jail for a series of crimes he did not commit. This black French comedy attempts to explain via flashback the twisted reasons why an innocent youth would so cavalierly throw away his freedom. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A paranoiac's delight, this contemporary mystery thriller warns that psychotherapy can be dangerous for both doctor and patient. The twisted tale begins with a funeral and then moves to the office of Dr. Antoine Riviere, a noted psychiatrist and author who deep down is more interested in his own needs than those of his patients. The only two clients who interest him are the filthy rich temptress Isabelle d'Archambault and the natty Edouard Berg, who brags of killing his wife and may actually be guilty of the crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Almost a follow-up to director Claude Sautet's Un Coeur en Hiver (1992), Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud further explores repressed emotions and failed relationships. Nelly (Emmanuelle Béart), an attractive young woman, is six months behind in her rent and struggling with odd jobs, while her husband (Charles Berling) lies in bed reading newspapers and watching TV. Her friend Jacqueline introduces her to Pierre Arnaud (Michel Serrault), a retired judge and wealthy ex-businessman, who offers to settle Nelly's debt. She agrees and is later so disappointed by her husband's indifferent reaction that she leaves him. Arnaud asks her to be his secretary because he needs help in typing his memoirs. Though obviously attracted to her, he rarely expresses his emotions, and he suddenly erupts only when he finds out about Nelly's affair with his young publisher Vincent (Jean-Hugues Anglade). The film won Césars from the French Academy of Cinema for Best Director and Best Actor, although it lost Best Film to Mathieu Kassovitz's more innovative La haine. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

This European buddy movie chronicles the relationship between a famed yet depressive hairdresser and the suicidal plumber who becomes his "adopted" son after he rescues him from a canal. Georges is the hairdresser who gained notoriety as a hairdresser to stars such as Grace Kelly, and Ava Gardner. His clients are all interesting. For example, there is the butcher who loves tall hair on his mistress' head, and a balding fellow who wants his remaining hair combed forward. Gus, after being mistreated in love, decides to end it all by jumping into a canal. Georges tries to save him and the soggy twosome become bosom buddies. Georges takes Gus to the Louvre where he critiques the hairstyles on the art work. After a peer breaks his arm, Georges agrees to take his place in the World Hairdressing Championships in the Czech Republic. Many surreal hairstyles are to be seen there, including replicas of the Eiffel tower, a battleship, and a burning building. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi