Chapelle is the archetypal bank employee: dull, unadventurous, in short
a Grade A wimp. But his life takes a more exciting turn when the
cops burst into his office one day and make him an offer he cannot
refuse. To his amazement, Chapelle learns that he has a twin
brother, a notorious pimp named Ace le Mac. The French police
have received information that Le Mac is planning a spectacular
criminal exploit with another gangster and are determined to thwart it,
with Chapelle's help. The timid banker has a choice. He can
either spend the next twenty years rotting in jail or he can
impersonate his brother. Chapelle has just thirty seconds to make
up his mind....
American film comedy had its heyday in the 1920s and '30s, but it remains an important genre and has given American cinema some of its enduring classics.
In his letters to his friends and family, Franz Kafka gives us a rich self-portrait that is surprisingly upbeat, nor the angst-ridden soul we might expect.