Click to read the article
Apres Vous (2005)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:63
Fresh:35
Rotten:28
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: This farcical French comedy of errors is well-acted, but the absurdities feel too forced to make such a light confection work.
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
Synopsis: No good deed goes unpunished. -- Clare Booth Luce, as quoted in The Book of Laws, 1980 Two of France's most celebrated actors, Daniel Auteuil ("The Closet," "Girl on the Bridge") and José... No good deed goes unpunished. -- Clare Booth Luce, as quoted in The Book of Laws, 1980 Two of France's most celebrated actors, Daniel Auteuil ("The Closet," "Girl on the Bridge") and José Garcia ("Trouble Everyday," "Jet Set"), team up in a romantic comedy from director Pierre Salvadori ("Wild Target") that begs the question: Can it actually be bad to be a Good Samaritan? Antoine (Auteuil) is the kind of guy who is always helping everyone - from his customers at Chez Jean, the upscale French brassiere he practically runs, to his incompetent fellow waiters and busboys, Antoine is the guy you can count on. Then one night on his way to meet his girlfriend Christine (Marilyn Canto), he cuts through the park to save time and commits the ultimate good deed - he saves a man's life. And boy will he be sorry. Despondent because the love of his life Blanche (Sandrine Kiberlain) has left him, Louis is at the end of his rope - or at least he'd like to be. But seconds after he's summoned the courage to kick away the suitcase he stands upon, literally inches away from hanging himself from a tree, poor Louis is saved by a complete stranger. Yes, kindhearted Antoine has committed the cruelest of acts - he has not allowed a man to take himself out of his own misery. He has reconnected Louis with his pain - and now the lovesick sad sack is ready to wring his savior's neck! Apologetic, yet determined to keep this man alive, Antoine struggles under Louis' weight as he tries to cut him loose, unaware that Louis might just become a weight he will be trying to cut loose for the rest of his life. In fact, Antoine feels strangely guilty for having saved Louis, and he is resolute to right his "wrong," atone for his interference and meddle in Louis' life until the man is finally happy. Getting Louis a job as a wine steward at Chez Jean (even though the man doesn't know a cabernet from a beer) and taking him into his home at the risk of losing his own girlfriend, Antoine really goes overboard when he plays cupid and tracks down Blanche (Sandrine Kiberlain), the woman who drove his new friend to despair. But as cruel fate would have it, Louis' lost love is an ethereal beauty. Now as much of a siren to Antoine as she has always been to Louis, Blanche unwittingly draws Antoine back to the florist shop where she works and causes him to buy thousands of francs worth of flowers he doesn't need just to be around her. Suddenly finding herself in an apartment full of floral bouquets, Christine thinks that her noncommittal Antoine is finally ready to pop the question. But little does she know that her infatuated Romeo is climbing another woman's trellis and Louis is right behind him! Entangled in a love triangle he never asked for, Antoine now faces making a fiasco of his friendship with Louis and messing up his relationship with Christine. The stress is even making him screw up at work. Have Antoine's good intentions paved him a road to hell? Set in the most romantic city in the world, where the food is delicious and passions run deep, fate is about to step in and create an unlikely bond between two men. One will snatch the other from the brink of destruction then nearly push him toward it, and the other will take a surprising leap of faith that only a true friend can make. -- © Paramount Classics [More]
Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Jose Garcia, Sandrine Kiberlain, Garence Clavel
Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Jose Garcia, Sandrine Kiberlain, Garence Clavel, Michele Moretti, Maryline Canto, Fabio Zenoni
Director: Pierre Salvadori
Director: Pierre Salvadori
Story: Daniele Dubroux
Screenwriter: Benoit Graffin
Producer: Philippe Martin
Composer: Camille Bazbaz
Studio: Paramount Classics
Reviews for Apres Vous
Salvadori and his fellow screenwriters invent clever complications to keep us amused.
A light, entertaining comedy with little, if any, redeeming value, other than a few good laughs.
This dumb romantic comedy is not in the same class with Jean Renoir's masterful Boudu Saved From Drowning, though it toys with the same plot line.
Although the ingredients are excellent, the result is an overcooked comedy more often provoking indigestion than laughter.
A lightweight farce that remains enjoyable primarily for the time spent with Auteuil.
Auteuil... finds himself in Antoine's situation, helping out a hapless wreck and being dragged down in the process.
The movie doesn't ask you to laugh at somebody's unhappiness, just the incredibly absurd situations that arise when misery has two goofballs for company.
Apres Vous ... is less peculiar but considerably more contrived, more forced than Girl on the Bridge.
Unfolds with the light and civilized touch that Americans associate with French farce, but it's as contrived as any Hollywood comedy.
The result may be a high-concept soufflé, but its blackly comic tone and Auteuil's caffeinated whippet of a performance help lend it a cockeyed charm.
If anyone tries to insist that you come along to see the film, it's best to reply, Après vous, and then head in the other direction.
Plays like some kind of weak joke in which two men keep repeating the line to each other.
Latest News for Apres Vous
August 05, 2005:
WB Turns French Farce Into a Billy Crystal Vehicle
It opened in limited release just a few short months ago, and now the French comedy "Apres Vouz" ("After You") has been optioned by Warner Bros., and they... More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 67% 67% | Public Enemies |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 95% 95% | The Cove |
| 85% 85% | World's Greatest Dad |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- Apres Vous at Rotten Tomatoes
- Apres Vous at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

