A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Known in English as "The Valet," this sparkling comedy written and directed by Francis Veber tells the story of Pierre, a wealthy businessman (Daniel Auteuil) who seeks to conceal his affair with supermodel Elena (Alice Taglioni) from his wife (Kristin Scott Thomas), who is the majority owner of his entire business, by convincing her that Elena is actually in love with Francis Pignon (Gad Elmaleh), a parking attendant. For 20 million Euros, Elena agrees to move into Francois' shabby apartment and pretend to be his lover. Their relationship is monitored from an empty building across the street by a detective Pierre's lawyer has hired for that purpose. Since Francois' apartment lacks curtains, Francois and Elena are forced to share a narrow bed in order to confirm their relationship. Since Pierre's wife knows what's going on, she intervenes to compound Pierre's jealousy and to force him into a corner. There are a number of clever plot twists that add to the hilarity. Auteuil and Thomas are established stars but Gad Elmaleh and Alice Taglioni are also excellent. I never heard of Ms. Taglioni but she is an outstanding beauty. Also acquitting herself well in this very funny movie is Virginie Ledyen as Emilie, a bookstore owner, whom Francois really does love. He's accepted the arrangement with Elena only because it will allow him to pay off Emilie's bank loan for the bookstore.

Dany Boon (Joyeux Noël) got a César nomination for supporting actor as the best friend of a really lucky guy.Daniel Auteuil (Caché, Girl on the Bridge) is hilarious as the billionaire caught with his supermodel mistress, France's Actress of the year for 2006, Alice Taglioni (The Pink Panther). François (Gad Elmaleh) just happened to be in the published picture, so they paid him to fake a relationship with Taglioni to fool Auteuil's wife, Kristin Scott Thomas (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient, Gosford Park). She's no dummy, knows he's lying, and that's when the fun really begins.Of course, our man François is really in love with Émilie (Virginie Ledoyen - 8 Women, Saint Ange).It is all good fun and credit for that is not only due to a fine cast, but to writer/director Francis Veber (La Cage aux folles), who put together some great lines and a funny situation.Please do not let them make a stupid American remake. It won't possibly be as good as the French version.

I really enjoyed The Valet. It's a sweet little film that had me grinning the whole way through. My smiles were only interrupted now and then by bursts of laughter.Gad Elmaleh plays a valet who through pure chance is photographed with a billionaire (the always wonderful Daniel Auteuil) and his mistress, a famous supermodel. When the photo turns up in the tabloids the billionaire must convince his wife that the supermodel is really with the valet, so he gets them to live together while his wife has them shadowed by private investigators. The plan backfires on the billionaire when he finds himself consumed with jealousy at the thought of his mistress spending the night with another man, so he also sends private investigators to watch them. Meanwhile the Valet has romantic problems of his own that are complicated by the fact that all of a sudden he finds himself shacking up with the most beautiful woman in France. It's a cute and funny little romantic comedy.

I absolutely adored "Le Closet" and when I saw another movie advertised by Veber, I drove all across town to watch la Doublure . I was a little bit disappointed. I am not quite sure if it was because the story did not ring true, Auteuil overacted or the film had more an American feel to it than a French one. As I speak French it could not have been the translation. Maybe I expected a French film to be more about l'amour than l'argent. But I suppose when we deal with billionaires and supermodels it is mainly about money. Maybe some of the situations were too far fetched. I still enjoyed the movie and laughed often, but I just did not think it so hilarious than Veber's other comedies.