Watch The Closet For Free

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Not many actors in this amusing film will be familiar to an American audience, aside from Gerard Depardieu and possibly Daniel Auteuil. But, as is frequently the case in British productions, the cast in "The Closet" is filled with actors who have played feature roles in many another movie. The story -- a colorless accountant pretends to be gay to keep his job with a company that manufactures condoms -- produces numerous complications. The funniest (and least probable) scene occurs when the accountant and his female boss (Michele Laroque), who has seen thru the scheme, make love on the factory floor just as the head of the company is leading a delegation of Japanese businessmen along a catwalk high above the scene. He explains "they are our testers." Auteuil and Depardieu are certainly the stars but many of the other parts are so skillfully executed that the silly plot actually seems to make sense.

"It's the eyes of the beholder". Yes, sure, but does it matter? François Pignon seems to be able to do nothing well in life. Until, by an accident of fate, and a bright neighbour, formerly an enterprise psychologist, they find out how to avoid the bad news, get to know who's who in his family and work colleagues, and get the reins of his own life, which seemed to be a robot's.Michel Aumont is a fantastic actor, so natural it makes you tremble. Without him, the film just wouldn't exist. Yes, Auteuil is also fine as a likable looser. When he "squints like a gay", he really does something ... unusual. Like on a Rorschach test, it just takes an ambiguous image for us viewers to project who we really are. The envious co worker, the racist macho, the brainy one who plays with other people's feelings like if they were chess pieces, the bright beautiful competitive blonde which rightly suspects from the start, the boss who wields power but just doesn't want trouble, the bright African who also has mixed feelings about the white majority, his stunning but sour & selfish ex wife, their aloof frivolous teenager, in short, the human comedy. Balzac would be proud.Pignon, like his neighbour's kitten, is probably too grey to be distinguishable from most people we know. If there's something reassuring in this comedy that takes place at a fake condom factory is that we could all change. If only ...Veber, director of "The dinner game" and of lesser works, is at his best here. While stereotypes abound, they are probably forced upon us to make the "clockwork orange" of gags work relentlessly. At that it succeeds admirably.Pure enjoyment!PS: Kudos to the nicest kittens I've seen on a film :).

Daniel Auteuil comes of it "Le Placard" (The Closet), or so everyone thinks, in this 2001 French film directed by Francis Veber and also starring Gerard Depardieu, Michele Laroque, Michel Aumont, and Thierry Lhermitte. When Francois Pignon (Auteuil) learns that he is about to be fired, his neighbor Belone (Aumont) suggests that he come out as gay. Then the company won't dare fire him. Belone photoshops some photos that show Pignon being fondled in a gay bar. Pignon, a rather colorless man, keeps his job, and in the process, learns who he is and what he wants.A truly lovely film, but some of the gay jokes, language, and attitudes related to homosexuality are really offensive. This, though, is part of the story, mostly involving a cruel co-worker, Santini (Depardieu) who thinks he has to be nice to Pignon in order to keep his job. In reality, his buddies are just having fun with him. It leads to Santini becoming very conflicted and depressed.The relationship between Pignon and his gay neighbor, Aumont, is very poignant.This isn't a laugh out loud movie for the most part - it's a very light, warm film that's very satisfying. Good viewing.

Le Placard is funny, but its humor is not the physical humor like some treasured American comedies. The plot revolves around a boring accountant, François (Auteuil) who is about to get fired. Everyone finds him to be a terrible drag, including his ex-wife (who he still loves) and his teenage son. Distraught and determined to jump off his balcony, his new neighbor stops him and helps devise a plan to keep his job. All François has to do is allow his co-workers and boss to believe he is "out of the closet." The plot itself is very humorous, but in a very clever way. It is not a film for audiences who expect comedies to revolve around outrageous situations that would normally never happen. Le Placard's humor lies in the silly, yet slightly understandable reactions of François' coworkers to his new identity. As a comedy, the film did its job and provides many laughs and snickers. The plot is universal in the sense that homosexuality is something people tend to tip toe around. Overall, Le Placard was a well made film and definitely a good French comedy to pick up.