Alceste à bicyclette (2013)
Directed by Philippe Le Guay

Film Review

Philippe Le Guay's follow-up to his popular comedy Les Femmes du 6e étage (2011) allows him yet another occasion to exploit Fabrice Luchini's comedic potential, in a role that fits him so perfectly you can't help thinking it is meant as a (slightly tongue-in-cheek) self-portrait.  Molière's mid-17th century play Le Misanthrope provides the starting point for a culture-clash comedy which sees a cantankerous old actor of the old school (Luchini) being dragged reluctantly back into the spotlight by a self-promoting TV celebrity (Lambert Wilson).  The problem is that Luchini's character is so misanthropically minded that he appears impervious to Wilson's cajolery and he resists like a stubborn mule, until Molière's acid-edged verse finally begins to work its magic.  Even then, the fireworks show has some way to run, as the two actors become rivals in love for the same woman (cue an obvious homage to Truffaut's Jules et Jim...)

In contrast to Le Guay's previous film, which tapped into wider social concerns and consequently had more substance to it, Alceste à bicyclette feels a little too parochial and nombrilistic to have mainstream appeal.  Why should we care about its protagonists, two unsympathetic actors with egos bigger than the Eiffel Tower?  Given its fairly ropey premise, the film works better than you might think, partly because it allows Fabrice Luchini to do what he obviously enjoys most, which is to go way over the top when the occasion rises.  The two lead actors spar off one another superbly and it is to the film's detriment that Le Gauy had to throw in a load of far less interesting secondary characters, who merely provide an unwelcome distraction from the main attraction, the enjoyable Luchini-Wilson double act. 

Had this been a two-handed comedy, with a little more character depth and a little less in the way of juvenile slapstick, this could have been something special.  As it is, a lively middlebrow comedy attractively shot in one of the most picturesque regions of France (the Island of Ré), Alceste à bicyclette is an entertaining diversion, but nothing more.  Fans of Molière will doubtless love it (particularly as Luchini handles the text with such relish, devouring it like a bon vivant at a banquet); those who are not quite so enamoured of 17th century French drama may feel somewhat intimidated.  For the uninitiated, it is as good an introduction to the work of France's most famous playwright as any other, perhaps the best attempt to popularise Molière in cinema since Louis de Funès' L'Avare (1980) (but not quite as funny).

Film Synopsis

Serge Tanneur is a renowned actor who, having reached the summit of his profession, decides to bow out and enjoy a long and quiet retirement at a remote house on the island of Ré.  He enjoys three years of peace and anonymity before Gauthier Valence, a self-promoting celebrity, shows up on the island with the intention of getting him to play the lead role in a new production of Molière's Le Misanthrope.  Gauthier is convinced the part would suit Serge perfectly, particularly as he has been living the life of the hermit for the past few years and seems to loathe the company of others.  Serge is initially reluctant to take Gauthier's proposal seriously but gradually he starts to come round to the idea.  As he mulls the matter over, he invites the other actor to help him rehearse a key scene from the play...