Line Renaud Movies
- 2008
A man born and raised on France's Southern coast is exiled to the Northern territories in this comedy from actor, director and screenwriter Dany Boon. Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad) helps run the post office in a picturesque small town in the South of France, Salon de Provence. Philippe's wife Julie (Zoe Felix) has been down in the dumps, and he thinks one way to lift her spirits would be to relocate to the more glamorous surroundings of the Cote d'Azur. However, Philippe's attempts to finagle a transfer (by pretending that he is handicapped) fail, and when the ruse is discovered, he ends up being punished with a forced relocation to Bergues, a village in Northern France that lies stuck between Belgium and the English Channel. In this area, the indigenes speak a language known as Picard - an amalgam of French, Flemish and Latin - and Philippe essentially perceives the region as the "Siberia of France." With misery in his heart, he dons extreme winter clothing and trudges off to his new post, saying goodbye to Julie and their son, who opt to stay behind. To make matters worse, not long after arriving in Bergues, Philippe nearly runs over a man while driving home drunk -- who turns out to be one of his new colleagues at the post office, But Philippe eventually finds to his surprise that he enjoys life in Bergues, and begins to love the community and its people, even growing infatuated with Annabelle (Anne Marivin), a beautiful letter carrier. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2006
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
- Starring:
- Dany Boon, Michèle Laroque, (more)
- 2003
Coline Serreau's 18 Ans Apres (18 Years Later) is a sequel to her 1985 film Three Men and a Cradle, which was re-made in America as Three Men and a Baby. Marie (Madeleine Besson) is now on the verge of turning 18. She decides to spend a summer vacation with her mother Sylvia. Joining them are Sylvia's husband (Ken Samuels) and his two young adult boys (Gregoire Lavollay-Porter and James Thierree). Eventually her three "dads" (André Dussollier, Michel Boujenah, and Roland Giraud) and a housekeeper show up. The differences between Americans and the French, the foibles of single parenthood, and the pitfalls of middle-aged love and sex provide the material for the film's comedy. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- André Dussollier, Michel Boujenah, (more)
In this satirical comedy drama from France, white-collar workaholic Paul (Vincent Lindon) and his high-strung wife Helene (Catherine Frot) are driving to a party one evening when a young woman leaps into the path of their car, crying for help. Paul refuses to let her into the car, and soon several men catch up with the woman and begin beating her savagely. Paul insists on staying out of the matter, but Helene feels some sense of responsibility for what happened, and begins spending most of her time at the hospital where the woman remains unconscious. In time, it's determined that the woman's name is Noémie (Rachida Brakni), she's 22 years old, and works as a prostitute. By this time, Helene has become obsessed with protecting Noémie, and when a strange man (Wojtek Pszoniak) attempts to sign her out of the hospital, claiming he's her uncle, Helene sneaks Noémie out posing as a nurse and takes her to her mother-in-law's country house to recover. Eventually, Noémie is well enough to tell her harrowing story -- she was brought to France from Algeria by her father, along with her sister, and fell into life as a streetwalker shortly after learning that her family had sold her hand in marriage her to a man back in Algeria. Director Coline Serreau shot Chaos using digital video equipment -- and was impressed enough with the experience that she announced she had no interest in shooting on 35 mm film ever again. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catherine Frot, Vincent Lindon, (more)
- 1999
Who is the worst person you could fall in love with, and what would be the worst moment to fall for them? One possible scenario is presented in the comedy of errors Belle Maman. Antoine (Vincent Lindon) has decided to make an honest woman of his girlfriend, pregnant Severine (Mathilde Seigner), but during the ceremony he sees a beautiful woman and falls instantly in love. The woman in question happens to be Severine's mother, Lea (Catherine Deneuve, and how can you really blame a guy for being infatuated with her? ). Lea seems to be more than a bit interested in Antoine as well, but she already has a boyfriend, Gregoire (Idris Elba), a native of the Caribbean island Lea now calls home. This potentially messy situation just gets sloppier when they all travel to the Bahamas together to celebrate the 70th birthday of Lea's mother, Nicou (Line Renaud), a tart-tongued lesbian with a taste for cigars. Though not especially well received, Belle Maman was a box office success in France, doubtless due to a sharp comic performance by Vincent Lindon and the presence of the always beautiful Catherine Deneuve. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Lindon, (more)
- 1996
Misunderstandings create romantic mayhem in this French comedy. Joanna Martin is an investigative television reporter who has lived happily with prominent lawyer Samuel Bosquier for over 15 years. The trouble begins when her station assigns Joanna to investigate the phony marriage/immigration racket. Wanting to prove that such bogus unions are absurdly easy to obtain, she steals the identity of her sister (a spinster) and 'marries" Pavel, a recently emigrated Hungarian laborer. Unfortunately, she says nothing of her assignment to Samuel. He never would have found out had he not run across a letter she had written on behalf of a colleague to help her escape her abusive husband. Reading the letter, poor Samuel begins believing that his beloved Joanna has been untrue. He suffers a breakdown and begins getting in trouble with the law. At the same time, Joanna develops her own problems when a government official begins suspects the reporter's marriage to Pavel is a sham. The dogged official so badgers them, they the two stage an elaborate scenario to prove themselves bonafide spouses. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Boujenah, Miou-Miou, (more)
This French drama uses two plots that occasionally come together. The stories are set within the multiethnic neighborhoods of Paris. In the first, Daiga (Yekaterina Golubeva), a spunky Lithuanian actress, drives into to town to collect on the promise of a director she slept with. He lied to her and now she, who speaks no French, must accept help from friends and relatives who set her up in a small hotel. She gets a job as a chambermaid. The second examines the lives of a large expatriate Caribbean family. Theo ( Alex Descas), a musician, takes small carpentry jobs for wealthy Parisians to support his young daughter. He really wants to go home to Martinique, but his daughter's mother doesn't want to. Theo's brother Camille (Richard Courcet) has real problems. He is the wild one. Dressed in his fishnet stockings and garish makeup, Camille sings at the local gay club. He sleeps with his lover (also his doctor) in the same hotel as Daiga. Camille seems nice enough until it is discovered that he is not only a drug addict and HIV-positive, he also strangles old women to death while a partner robs their homes. Camille seems oddly distant from his actions, which he calmly describes. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yekaterina Golubeva, Richard Courcet, (more)
- 1992
In this two-part adventure drama based on a thriller by author Sidney Sheldon, three nuns must run for their lives from a cruel colonel. Their flight leads them straight to a renowned Spanish rebel. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Deborah Raffin, Michael Nouri, (more)
- 1990
A "ripoux" is, in French slang, a policeman who accepts bribes, shakes down "honest" criminals for a cut of their action, at a level which can range from the familiar (U.S.) paradigm of accepting free donuts, to serious criminal activity. This comic police thriller is a sequel to the hugely successful 1984 film Philippe Noiret and Thierry Lhermitte about a pair of Parisian policemen, one an old, experienced "ripoux" and the other one an idealistic new-kid-on-the-block type, who has to be shown the ropes (and mildly corrupted) by the older man. In this story, Noiret's young partner is having misgivings about his misdeeds, and in any case wants to try for a promotion to police commissioner. What with one thing and another, this leads to both men being ignominiously transferred to another beat, to the (temporary) jubilation of the people they've been sponging off of for years. It turns out that the new cops on their old beat are far less helpful and easygoing than they were, and soon the denizens of their Montmartre district beat are beating on the doors of city hall begging for their return. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Thierry Lhermitte, (more)
- 1989
Before was made into the famous Mozart opera, Le Mariage de Figaro was an incredibly famous French comedy and political satire by Beaumarchais (1732-1799). Beaumarchais was at least as interesting a character as any in his plays; among other things, he was a litigious watchmaker, a playwright, and spy who was also one of the fundraisers for the American Revolution. Even though this otherwise completely silly and very popular story was written by a man who was (at the time) spying for the monarchy, it was also considered seditious, and Louis XVI tried (unsuccessfully) to have it banned. So much for the powers of an absolute monarch. This filmed production of the play is most notable for having been financed by ticket subscriptions. The familiar story concerns the trials and tribulations of the duplicitious Count Almaviva (Claude Giraud), as he tries to have his cake (marriage to the lovely Suzanne, played here by Fanny Cottencon) and eat it, too, by avoiding a contracted marriage to Marceline (Line Renaud), to whom he owes a lot of money. The figures in the story scheme and plot for and against one another in the most vigorous manner possible, and they eventually discover some unlikely truths. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fanny Cottençon, Roger Coggio, (more)
- 1960
This musical performance features the streets of Paris and the girls of the French Can-Can. ~ Rovi
- 1958
Some songs are mixed into this uneven comedy by director Jean Boyer, a story about an off-the-wall waiter (Darry Cowl in a good performance) who has taken out a hefty life-insurance policy. Once this news gets into the wrong hands -- that is, the hands of those who might benefit from his demise -- there are several attempts on his life. Due to the inscrutable movement of Fate, all of these attempts fail miserably. But what happens to the would-be assassins is another story entirely. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Darry Cowl, Line Renaud, (more)
- 1955
Le Madelon is the name of the young heroine played by Line Renaud. During WWI, the gaminlike Madelon becomes the unofficial mascot of the French army. When she is falsely informed that her soldier fiancé has been unfaithful, Madelon heads to the front in search of her "wandering" sweetheart. Along the way, star Line Renaud is permitted to sing several vintage ballads and patriotic tunes, usually accompanied by a robust male military chorus. Keeping Le Madelon in the context of its time period are some well-chosen newsreel clips, some of them deployed satirically to comment upon the action. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Line Renaud, Jean Richard, (more)
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