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Movies / On DVD / The Closet
The Closet

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The Closet (2001)

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Reviews Counted:78

Fresh:67

Rotten:11

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: A pleasant comedy with a great cast.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for a scene of sexuality

Runtime: 85 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Jun 29, 2001 Limited

Box Office: $4,519,967

Synopsis: It's all about perception… Francois Pignon (Daniel Auteuil, The Widow of Saint-Pierre) leads an uncomplicated, complacent and quiet existence. Due to his severe case of "boring," his wife... It's all about perception…

Francois Pignon (Daniel Auteuil, The Widow of Saint-Pierre) leads an uncomplicated, complacent and quiet existence. Due to his severe case of "boring," his wife leaves him and his seventeen-year-old son abandons him. Pignon has little left to sustain himself except his accounting job at a condom factory. Until one day he accidentally discovers he is going to be fired, because his employers have grown tired of him as well.

Desperate for a solution, Pignon looks to his neighbor Belone (Michel Aumont), a retired corporate psychologist, for help. Together, they devise an outrageous scheme to solve his problem: Pignon will come out of a closet he never went into, and start a rumor that will have his entire corporation thinking he’s gay.

Due to this "surprising revelation," the new, mysterious Pignon suddenly intrigues his employer. Now he is a straight man pretending to live a gay life, entrenched in a comedy of errors, and finding his new persona is affecting everyone in his world. For the first time in his life, Francois Pignon is coming alive. -- © 2001 Miramax [More]

Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte, Michele Laroque

Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte, Michele Laroque, Jean Rochefort, Stanislas Crevillen, Alexandra Vandernoot

Director: Francis Veber

Director: Francis Veber
Screenwriter: Francis Veber
Studio: Miramax Films

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Nov 13, 2001

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • The Closet
  • The always popular Gerard Depardieu (102 DALMATIANS, VATEL) stars in a warmly engaging comedy that shows how one little white lie can change everything! A dull and lonely accountant working at a condom factory, Francois (Daneil Auteuil) meekly endures office jokes and backroom whispers that he's about to be fired ... usually instigated by his loutish coworker Felix (Depardieu). But that all changes when a rumor about him spreads around the office! Much to his surprise, this funny falsehood becomes the catalyst that sends Francois' life on an unexpected and hilarious turn for the better! As this outrageous, critically acclaimed story unfolds, you'll laugh along with Francois as he keeps this improbable charade going in an inspired bid to save his job and transform his life!
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for The Closet

    • T-Meter Critics
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    21 - 40 (sorted by date)
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    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: FilmFour.com | comment Comment
    05/21/02
    FilmFour.com

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
    04/29/02
    Neil Smith
    Neil Smith
    BBC
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
    03/24/02
    Boston Phoenix

    This is a film with gay/lesbian sensibilities that can play well with a crossover more mainstream crowd

    Full Review Source: ToxicUniverse.com | comment Comment
    01/27/02
    John A. Nesbit
    John A. Nesbit
    ToxicUniverse.com
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
    01/22/02
    Liz Braun
    Liz Braun
    Jam! Movies
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
    01/22/02
    Stanley Kauffmann
    Stanley Kauffmann
    New Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
    01/22/02
    Brian Webster
    Brian Webster
    Apollo Guide
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
    01/22/02
    Joe Baltake
    Joe Baltake
    Sacramento Bee

    This one-joke movie manages so many imaginative wrinkles that it successfully extends the joke into a feature length film.

    Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
    01/05/02
    Robert Roten
    Robert Roten
    Laramie Movie Scope
    N/R

    ... only in retrospect that you realize just how absurd it is ...

    Full Review Source: Baseline.Hollywood.com | comment Comment
    12/21/01
    Ted Murphy
    Ted Murphy
    Baseline.Hollywood.com

    Genial, likable, and perhaps, in its own peculiar way, even thought-provoking.

    Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
    09/14/01
    Jeff Vice
    Jeff Vice
    Deseret News, Salt Lake City

    It is not often laugh-out-loud funny, but it is consistently amusing.

    Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
    09/10/01
    Eric D. Snider
    Eric D. Snider
    EricDSnider.com

    See The Closet now before somebody ruins an American version by casting Robin Williams and scrubbing clean all its wanton wackiness.

    Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
    08/31/01
    Rob Blackwelder
    Rob Blackwelder
    SPLICEDWire

    It never forgoes the human moments for the farce, and the speed of the storytelling ensures that it is believable enough to work.

    Full Review Source: Ottawa Citizen | comment Comment
    08/17/01
    Jay Stone
    Jay Stone
    Ottawa Citizen

    Light, breezy, and actually funny.

    Full Review Source: Daily-Reviews | comment Comment
    08/12/01
    Shay Casey
    Shay Casey
    Daily-Reviews

    A film filled with surprises and twists.

    Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
    08/09/01
    Louis B. Hobson
    Louis B. Hobson
    Jam! Movies

    Gay Paree just bubbled up a few degrees with this delightfully witty homo-faux-bic comedy.

    Full Review Source: Nitrate Online | comment Comment
    08/07/01
    Elias Savada
    Elias Savada
    Nitrate Online
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
    08/02/01
    Adam Nayman
    Adam Nayman
    eye WEEKLY

    It might have been a sharper comedy by facing its real subject -- corporate conformity and PC enforcement -- but Veber has made a snickering appeal for gay rights by topping it with hetero payoffs.

    Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
    07/31/01
    David Elliott
    David Elliott
    San Diego Union-Tribune

    The remarkably thin plot works primarily due to Auteuil's disarming charm.

    Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
    07/31/01
    Steve Rhodes
    Steve Rhodes
    Internet Reviews
     
     
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