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Movies / On DVD / Merci Docteur Rey!
Merci Docteur Rey!

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Merci Docteur Rey! (2002)

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Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:0

Rotten:21

Average Rating:3/10

Consensus: This overly wacky farce strains for sophistication but lacks polish and a coherent narrative.

Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Thomas Beaumont is a 23-year-old man who agrees to an unconventional threesome, accepting money to spy on an erotic encounter which turns violent. Now a witness to murder, Thomas encounters further... Thomas Beaumont is a 23-year-old man who agrees to an unconventional threesome, accepting money to spy on an erotic encounter which turns violent. Now a witness to murder, Thomas encounters further complications when his opera diva mother (Dianne Wiest, PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS) shows up the next day; she has some very unexpected news of his father, whom Thomas was told had died long ago. Now motivated to find the killer of the previous night's rendezvous, our hapless hero must navigate encounters with his very difficult mother; her best friend (New Wave legend Bulle Ogier, GANG OF FOUR, VENUS BEAUTY INSTITUTE); a flaky actress (the flute-voiced Jane Birkin, BLOWUP, JE T'AIME MOI NON PLUS); and various others who populate every strata of Parisian life, all in pursuit of the ever-elusive truth. Also appearing are Vanessa Redgrave (MRS. DALLOWAY), Simon Callow (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), and Jerry Hall (BATMAN). [More]

Starring: Dianne Wiest, Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Birkin, Jerry Hall

Starring: Dianne Wiest, Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Birkin, Jerry Hall, Simon Callow, Bulle Ogier

Director: Andrew Litvack

Director: Andrew Litvack
Studio: Regent Releasing

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Reviews for Merci Docteur Rey!

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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A limp, smirky lark.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Jessica Winter
Jessica Winter
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A horribly mannered, self-conscious film that gets more tiresome as it goes along.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
08/10/04
Saxon Bullock
Saxon Bullock
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The efforts of an experienced cast ... can't invigorate the tedious screenplay or distract from the stilted direction.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
08/07/04
Tom Dawson
Tom Dawson
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The grinding noises you hear are the gears of this labored French comedy straining to keep a ridiculously convoluted narrative moving along.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
02/25/09
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The movie, written and directed by Andrew Litvack, a protégé of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, strains to be the ne plus ultra of arch, hyper-sophisticated fun, but the laughs are few.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/15/05
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An arch, clumsy effort...not only poorly written but ineptly staged... Mercy!

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
10/25/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Merci Docteur Rey, which occasionally works as a passable farce, stoops to the sight gag of vomit.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
10/14/04
Laura Kelly
Laura Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Merci for nothing, Docteur Rey.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
10/08/04
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

While the cast of Merci Docteur Rey gives it a good shot, this romp stumbles a bit.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
10/07/04
Angela Shah
Angela Shah
Dallas Morning News

It's as if Litvack tossed all these bad gags, multiple storylines and kooky characters into a blender and hit puree.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/01/04
E! Online

What is all too apparent on the screen is a general pointless ineptitude, particularly dire in circumstances which require both material and handling to be done with the most effervescent of skill.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
09/25/04
David Noh
David Noh
Film Journal International

Brainless and pointless.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
09/20/04
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post

Tries too hard to be madcap.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/17/04
Robert Dominguez
Robert Dominguez
New York Daily News

In this comedy of murder, there is exactly one laugh, involving a dress and wallpaper, which is one more than there is of a real human moment or emotion.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
09/17/04
Kim Williamson
Kim Williamson
Boxoffice Magazine

There's much ado about very little in this flimsy, fallible Gallic comedy/melodrama which confounds with its complex, voyeuristic incongruity.

Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com | comment Comment
09/17/04
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

This is less a coming-out tale than a showcase for late-middle- aged hysterical divas in flowing caftans to yell, scream and ride roughshod over the young homosexuals who are nominally the movie's center.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
09/15/04
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

With Yank Andrew Litvack pinch-hitting for producers Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, Merci is free of much of that M-I pomposity, replacing it with an unnerving drollness.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/14/04
David Blaylock
David Blaylock
Village Voice

It comes off as forced wackiness of the worst kind, at once cloddish and faux-sophisticated.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
09/10/04
Dennis Harvey
Dennis Harvey
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lacks the sophistication it needs to be truly effective, hopelessly lost in its unfunny gags and weak plotting.

Full Review Source: Mixed Reviews | comment Comment
09/02/04
Gabriel Shanks
Gabriel Shanks
Mixed Reviews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ToxicUniverse.com | comment Comment
08/29/04
Dan Callahan
Dan Callahan
ToxicUniverse.com
 
 
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