Dominique Besnehard Movies

A movie fan finds a way to make himself a presence in the lives of his favorite actresses in this comedy from French writer-director Laetitia Colombani. Robert Lepage (Kad Merad) is a janitor who is part of the cleaning crew at the offices of the biggest talent agency in Paris. Ordinarily, this job wouldn't offer many perks, but Robert is clever enough to know what to look for while he's vacuuming or emptying waste baskets, and he's able to swipe invitations to major events and pencil himself onto guest lists for show-biz soirees. Robert's longtime girlfriend (Maria de Medeiros) doesn't think much of his double life, but he's having enough fun that he starts adding his own thoughts to paperwork at the office, and begins using his skills to boost the careers of his favorite stars -- classy veteran actress Solange Duvivier (Catherine Deneuve), sultry siren Isabelle Serena (Emmanuelle Beart) and promising starlet Violette Duval (Melanie Bernier). Thanks to Robert's meddling, Solange, Isabelle and Violette are cast together in a big-budget costume epic, but when he becomes a regular visitor to the set, the actresses begin wondering among themselves who he is and how he became such a big shot. Mes Stars Et Moi (aka My Stars) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on the original '60s French comic books by René Goscinny, Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre is the big-budget sequel to the 1999 box-office hit Astérix and Obélix vs. Caesar. Empress Cleopatra (Monica Bellucci) makes a wager with Julius Caesar (played by writer/director Alain Chabat) that her people can build a beautiful palace in three months. She chooses architect Numerobis (Jamel Debbouze) for the project, which must be completed in time or he will be fed to the crocodiles. Numerobis travels to Gaul to get help from the superpowered Panoramix (Claude Rich) and the warriors Astérix (Christian Clavier) and Obélix (Gérard Depardieu), along with their faithful pet Dogmatix. They use their magic potion to make the Egyptian slave-labor population into superheroes, thereby building the palace in no time. Meanwhile, the angry architect Amonbofis (Gérard Darmon) and Julius Caesar don't want to see them succeed. At the time of its release, Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre was the most expensive French film ever made, with a budget of $50 million. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Two teachers find themselves at odds in this drama from France. Hippolyte (Yvan Attal) and Alexandre (Jean-Hugues Anglade) have been friends since childhood; now they're both instructors and assistant principals at the same high school. They're both dedicated to making education exciting and fun for their students, and they want to teach them the importance of not blindly following in the paths of others, but lately they find themselves arguing over the best way to implement these goals. It doesn't help that they've both fallen for the same woman (Helene de Fougerolles), and neither wants to step aside and let the other man win her hand. Le Prof was based on a novel by Alexandre Jardin, who also directed and co-wrote the film's screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A jungle boy comes to Paris in this French adventure that while primarily aimed towards children, will be equally enjoyable to adult audiences. The film opens with Steph, an international trader, winging to Venezuela to formally divorce his estranged wife Patricia who left him thirteen years ago to live in Lipo-Lipo, a remote outpost deep in the Amazon. While he is there, Steph discovers that Patricia secretly bore him a son, Mimi-Siku. Mimi is truly a child of the jungle, but he longs to see the Eiffel Tower. He returns to Paris with his father. Upon arrival, Steph is dismayed to discover that his partner Richard has fumbled a major soybean deal and that both of their jobs are on the line. While Richard and Steph are frantically trying to sell their excess beans which includes suspicious interactions with the Russian Mafia, Mimi-Siku, dressed in his loincloth and carrying his bow and arrow, explores his new home. Pandemonium ensues as the boy climbs the Eiffel Tower, begins shooting and eating aquarium fish, and accidently terrifying people with his pet tarantula. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Reviewers declared that the main attraction of this romantic drama was the chance to see the ever-elegant Fanny Ardent in action as a well-to-do woman who wants to put her life in better order. Muriel (Ardent) is married to a philandering publisher, who quite openly entertains mistresses. Meanwhile, her son will soon be old enough to leave the nest. The mainstay of her rather empty (but very well-dressed) life is her coffee klatches with her girlfriends. Not to be outdone by her husband, she has a lover too. Thinking to arrange for a divorce, she hires a private investigator to document her infidelities. However, when she confronts her husband with them, he is completely unfazed and merely appreciates them as an example of her enterprising ways. Despite its thin storyline, this was a well-regarded first feature for director Paule Muret. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

When he inherits the family house and property after his mother's death, aspiring novelist Fane (Jean-Pierre Bacri) returns home with his bimbo girlfriend Lilas (Pauline Lafont). He must care for his idiot brother Mo (Jacques Villeret) and contend with a greedy garage owner (Guy Marchand) who covets Fane's property to expand his business. When efforts to buy the property are fruitless, the mechanic incites the townsfolk against the strange trio. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

With embarrassing dialogue and a theatrical style, this feature-length comedy is based on cartoon characters and is equally two-dimensional. After some misguided attempts at mixing with the riff-raff, the young rich heiress Paulette (Jeanne Marine) decides to start giving her money away to anyone who sounds like they really need it. Considering this to be an act of insanity, her greedy and crooked estate administrator gets her institutionalized. In retaliation, Paulette escapes with a fellow inmate, and after several misadventures (some nudity here) she finds herself nearly drowned and still no closer to regaining her estate. She is saved by some bargemen who decide to help her out -- and the adventure continues. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This technically impressive throwback to the early days of film noir stars Richard Berry as Bruno, a young actor who seems to get blamed for everything. Spotting a gorgeous female shoplifter (Victoria Abril) in trouble, Bruno decides to help her and gets arrested in her place. While lamenting his fate in prison, he is blamed for an escape attempt in which a psychotic guard (Richard Bohringer) is shot. When Bruno's sentence is lengthened, the guard makes his life a nightmare until the terrorized prisoner must lash out in the ultimate rebellion against (and surrender to) his inescapable fate. Director Denis Amar's moody film is strong on atmosphere but weak in characterization, despite an impressively sadistic turn by Bohringer, and the movie leaves the viewer flat rather than moved. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Director, co-writer, and star Maurice Pialat brought his typically unblinking New Wave style and interest in socially aberrant behavior to this psychological drama, winner of two Cesars (the French equivalent of the Oscar) for Best Film and Most Promising Young Actress (Sondrine Bonnaire). Bonnaire plays Suzanne, a 15-year-old girl who has become sexually promiscuous with anyone who will have her, despite her lack of affection for any of her lovers. The only boy she refuses is Luc (Cyr Boitard), whose feelings for Suzanne are sincere. When Suzanne's beloved father (Pialat) abandons his increasingly neurotic wife (Evelyne Ker), Suzanne's depression and lack of direction deepen. While her mother becomes a screeching mental case, her brother Robert (Dominique Besnehard) begins beating her, although he also harbors a disturbing attraction to Suzanne. In the denouement, Pialat depicts the devastating long-term results of Suzanne's abusive upbringing. Pialat draws powerful performances from his cast, with no finer example than the riveting acting Bonnaire -- in only her second film. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide