MY BEST FRIEND / Patrice Leconte (2006)

July 28th, 2007 by Scott Marks

Dany Boon & Daniel Auetuil

MY BEST FRIEND

Directed by Patrice Leconte

Written by: Patrice Leconte & Jérôme Tonnerre from an idea by Olivier Dazat

Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Dany Boon, Julie Gayet & Julie Durand

Running Time: 90 min.

Aspect Ratio:

Rating:

How many films can you think of that deal with friendship? It’s a Wonderful Life? Of Mice and Men? The Courtship of Eddie’s Father? In the Company of Men?

Comedy teams and/or buddy pictures don’t really count as they’re frequently more concerned with laughs or adventure rather than insights into camaraderie. Do you think if Curly had found someone better he’d still have palled around with Moe?

My Best Fried is about a man in search of one.

François Coste (Daniel Auteuil) is the type of guy who would attend the funeral of a man he hated just so he could ask the bereaving mother for an antique piece of her dead son’s furniture. The subject of funerals comes up over dinner with friends who assure François that no one would attend his.

It’s not that François is a monster. He’s successful, very charming, and quite dashing. Picture Tony Randall speaking perfect French. He also has a knack for keeping everyone at a polite, superficial distance.

His business partner Catherine (Julie Gayette) is so certain that François doesn’t so much as have one close acquaintance let alone a potential mourner, she gives him ten days to produce a best friend.

The wager involves a cost-prohibitive Greek vase that François had “a sudden urge” to purchase at auction. If he wins, it stays in his apartment. If she wins, it belongs to the store.

Catherine senses a sure thing and is confident that she knows François better than he does. François is so wrapped up in his own drama, even after all the time they’ve operated their antique business together, he remained clueless of the fact that his close associate was openly gay.

An initial survey of François’ address book proves Catherine right. In a panic he suddenly begins buying books on the subject and asking strangers how they became friends. François’ is so desperate to win the bet he even stops long enough to contemplate a “Jesus Is Your Friend” placard.

A clever chain of events reunites François with a grade school picture. So certain that an old classmate would proudly lay claim to eternal buddyhood, François finds him, stalks him and surprises him in the flan section of a neighborhood market. Let’s say his memory of their time together was something less than stellar.

Enter Bruno Bouley (Dany Boon), a rapid-tongued cabbie armed with reams of useless knowledge. He’s the original man who knew too much, and whether you want to know it or not, Bruno will tell you the origins of everything from mayonnaise to the Red Cross. Even when he mistakenly credits a small studio as the home of Auguste Renoir, not Toulouse Lautrec, he does so with such force that you’re inclined to believe him.

Bruno might as well live with his parents as his flat sits almost directly opposite theirs. He’s a good boy, ever kind to old ladies and dogs. François’ reluctance soon vanishes and it isn’t long before he’s a full time fare receiving lessons on how to be sociable from his friendly neighborhood hack.

The film traveled to places, including a shot for Bruno on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, that in other hands would have turned me off had I know the story in advance. Not so with Patrice Leconte, a gifted filmmaker in love with his anamorphic lens.

Mr. Leconte first attracted my gaze at the tail end of the 80s with his nifty voyeur thriller Monsieur Hire following by the non-linear longings of The Hairdresser’s Husband. Known for his taut melodramas and painstaking period pieces, Leconte’s recent output was unremarkable at best.

Given the handful of Leconte films I’ve seen, he’s wouldn’t be an initial choice for light comedy, yet with My Best Friend, he appears to be channeling Blake Edwards’ material from the early 60s.

The director has worked with Mr. Auteuil in the past (The Girl on the Bridge, The Widow of Saint-Pierre) and knows full well how to tap into his fastidious side. It’s destined to go down as one of this year’s memorable performances. As Bruno, the Hitchcockian-named “stranger on a cab,” Boon is irresistible. Sure, he never stops pounding out the trivia, but there’s more to the man than mere facts.

Ultimately their union is put to the test along with some of our own notions of friendship. Without becoming heavy (or heavy-handed) My Best Friend keeps a cheerful disposition throughout. Given the wealth of dodo comedies (see my Hot Rod review below) currently filling the malls, this should be a slam/dunk for your weekend moviegoing selection.