Jean-Michel Lahmi Movies
- 2007
This over-the-top horror spoof tells the spooky tale of a couple who buy an old, decrepit mansion only to find that it's haunted - by dead, gay disco dancers. A hauntingly 70's score accompanies this totally campy stab at the old haunted house flick. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clovis Cornillac, Julie Depardieu, (more)
A woman who has never had much trouble choosing between love or money tries to teach a man the tricks of the trade in this sly romantic comedy. Irène (Audrey Tautou) is an attractive thirtysomething woman who lives a comfortable life by taking up with older and very wealthy men. Irène is serving as arm candy for Jacques (Vernon Dobtcheff), who is twice her age and quite rich; Jacques takes Irène on a vacation to a resort in the French Riviera for her birthday, where she meets Jean (Gad Elmaleh), a handsome bartender at the hotel who works a variety of odd jobs to keep himself afloat. While Jacques spends Irène's birthday sound asleep, she ends up enjoying a romantic evening with Jean, until she discovers he's broke. A year later, Jacques and Irène return to the resort, and Jean discovers he still carries a torch for her. Irène is not so interested until Jacques decides he's had enough of her and breaks off their relationship; suddenly forced to fend for herself, Irène turns to Jean for help. Jean, meanwhile, has learned that Madeleine (Marie-Christine Adam), a handsome and very well-to-do widow in her sixties, has her eye on him and wishes to make Jean her kept man. Jean asks Irène to give him a crash course in the fine art of being a gigolo, while Irène tries to get back in the game by taking up with Gilles (Jacques Spiesser). Slowly but surely, Irène and Jean realize how much they care for one another, but can they get learn to live the good life without money? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, (more)
- 2006
It's hard to say if the kids or the counselors need more supervision at the second-rate summer camp in this comedy from France. Vincent (Jean-Paul Rouve) runs "Ces Jours Heureux," a camp for kids in rural France, and as he gears up for the summer season, he has to round up a new staff of counselors to look after the campers. Vincent ends up with six eccentric twenty-somethings, including self-styled ladies' man Daniel (Lannick Gautry), Canadian party animal Truman (Guillaume Cyr), potty-mouthed lapsed Catholic Caroline (Josephine de Meaux), pretty but non-ambitious Lisa (Julie Fournier), handsome black guy Joseph (Omar Sy), and Nadine (Marilou Berry), who is made the camp medic by virtue of her status as a medical school drop-out. While the campers have to contend with bad weather, worse food and extended periods of boredom, the supposedly more mature counselors hardly fare much better, and occasionally face visits from the cops over the camp's various safety violations. Nos Jours Heureux (aka Those Happy Days) was written and directed by the team of Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, who previously scored a box office hit with Je Prefere Qu'on Reste Amis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Rouve, Marilou Berry, (more)
- 2004
In this tart comedy from France, Raphael (Edouard Baer) is a glib but talented author who has built a career out of ghost-writing autobiographies for a variety of celebrities. Raphael is also happily dating Muriel (Marie-Josée Croze), a successful architect, but that begins to change when he begins his latest project, a book on soccer superstar Kevin (Clovis Cornillac). While wading through Kevin's monumental ego and strange creative notions is a challenge in itself, what really sets Raphael's mind off course is the discovery that Kevin is dating Claire (Alice Taglioni), the object of Raphael's unrequited affection while he was in college. Raphael is suddenly determined to win Claire away from Kevin, though he hasn't figured out how to do this without alienating his wife and his client. Mensonges et Trahisons et Plus Si Affinité (released in English-speaking territories as The Story of My Life) was screened in competition at the 2004 Avignon Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
