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THE CLOSET Send This Review to a Friend
A film set partly in a condom factory is a novelty in itself, and given writer-director Francis Veber's gift for comedy, that's only the take-off point for this rib-tickling French farce that makes fun of political correctness and homophobia in a smart, sassy way. Add a cast that is just right, and the film becomes a breezy, satirical lark.
Veber also did "The Dinner Game," and although "The Closet" isn't as consistently hilarious, it is perceptively funny enough. Daniel Auteuil, one of France's most important actors these days ("The Widow of Saint Pierre," for example), plays Pignon, a colorless, boring accountant who has been judged fodder for firing. He is despondent upon learning that he is about to be dismissed, and he has been despondent anyhow as a result of his failed personal life. Then in the nick of time his neighbor Belone (Michel Aumont) comes up with a solution. If word can leak that Pignon is gay, political correctness would prevent the company from firing him because it would be an act of prejudice.
The fun begins. Photos are doctored to show Pignon in comically compromising positions complete with lots of leather and they are surreptitiously passed along so that they become the talk of the office. Presto, the joke is that Pignon, a big bore until now, suddenly becomes interesting. However, Felix, a macho homophobic employee, played with amusing nastiness by Gerard Depardieu, has trouble treating Pignon nicely and there is much humor in Felix's effort to force himself to be friendly despite his contempt for gays. Pignon's new reputation doesn’t stand in the way of a female employee who has her own take on him.
There is one gag situation in the course of a group visit to the factory that alone makes the film worth seeing. (I won't spoil it by describing it, but you'll know it when you see it.) In addition to the farceurs cited above, the enjoyable cast also includes Thierry Lhermite, Michele Laroque, Jean Rochefort and Alexandra Vandernoot. A Miramax Zoe release.
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