While there are plenty of stories about gay men who have pretended to be straight for the sake of their careers, this tart comedy from France considers the dilemma of a straight man doing just the opposite. Francois Pignon (Daniel Auteuil) is an accountant whose personality is bland to the point of being nonexistent; he's been down in the dumps ever since his wife left him two years ago, and he becomes even more depressed when he learns that his boss is planning on firing him after 20 years of
loyal service. Francois is seriously considering suicide until his next-door neighbor Belone (Michel Aumont) comes up with a plan to save his career. Belone finds some photos snapped at an especially randy gay nightclub, and using his computer, he pastes Francois' face over that of one of the participants. He sends copies of the doctored picture to several of Francois' co-workers, and soon everyone at the office is convinced the quiet little man has a flamboyant secret life. The firm's CEO, Kopel (Jean Rochefort), now has second thoughts about firing Francois, since letting an employee go who is known to be gay could invite a sexual discrimination suit. Meanwhile, the firm's public relations man, Guillaume (Thierry Lhermitte), is dealing with Felix (Gérard Depardieu), an employee relations executive who is well known as a narrow-minded thug. In order to counter charges that he's a rampant homophobe, Guillaume instructs Felix to make friends with Francois, and soon Felix is spending so much time with Francois (while fighting his own internal revulsion) that his wife wonders if he's seeing another woman. Le Placard was writer and director Francis Veber's first film after his international hit Le Diner de Cons -- in which the leading character was also named Francois Pignon. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
One reason that Veber's comic ideas are so effective is that, in addition to being very funny, they hit on the sort of sociological issues that people really do think about.
While the generally sunny tone and faultlessly charming execution of the movie ... keeps things bubbling along, there's a cauldron churning somewhere beneath.
If one didn't know any better, one would think that French farceur Francis Veber's latest comedy as a just-unearthed relic from the '80s, given how it treats homosexuality as some sort of cutesy novelty.
...there are a number of sequences that would clearly benefit from a more broad sensibility (there's a scene that's virtually crying out for a spit take, for example).
all honours finally go to Veber, who has once again single-handedly changed the landscape of gay filmmaking, proving that gay subject matter can be financially successful without being condescending.
This movie is in French with English subtitles, Don't let that keep you from watching it. You will laugh from start to finish as Daniel Auteuil plays the part of a worker who is about to be fired from the company he works for, until he and his buddy dream up a plan to spread the rumor that he is gay, and send in
pictures to his boss, well rumors fly and he gets boosted to the top. A enjoyable movie, worth the watch, very comical and very true of peoples nature. 5 stars
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