The Closet (2001)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The Closet (2000)Cute, quaint, well done, and a French feel good comedy. This is nothing brilliant, but it's the equal of lots of American comedies in creating a situation that is filled with built-in laughs. And the leading man, Daniel Auteuil, is funny and sympathetic.The setting for this all is an office of the most preposterous kind--a condom factory. This is meant to be funnier than it is, actually, but it's a colorful backdrop to the opening salvo--our leading man is not the best accountant and he gets fired. Back home, where his life has left him and his son has stopped talking to him, his neighbor stops him from jumping off the balcony to his death. And concocts a simple plan to keep his job: pretend he is gay.The hook here is that by being openly gay the man would be able to claim he was fired by the gay bashers at the factory. This doesn't quite hold up, but the key basher is played with nice complexity by Gerard Depardieu, who himself begins to show some latent something or other. There is plenty of sympathy and warmth to go around here, and lots of appropriate laughs as you empathize with the main guy. Eventually, of course, people discover the ruse and that starts some new jokes. All in all enjoyable and fun, without a dull moment. And that's all you expect or need from this kind of movie.

This movie had some funny moments but I just couldn't get over how incredibly OFFENSIVE it is.Basically a man is going to lose his job so in order to keep it, he pretend to be gay b/c apparently he won't get fired if he's gay b/c people will feel like if they fire him, it will look like it's because he's gay and to sell it, he acts stereotypically gay meaning as flamboyant as possible. There are also a bunch of characters that look down on him for being gay in a joking manner only it's never funny.Hmmm... what if instead of gay, we used black instead. Would that be funny or would this movie now magically be deemed racist. Hmm. a man is about to lose his job so he decides to pull the race card and pretend that he's 1/2 black or something and then in order to pull it off, 'acts black' to seal the deal. Heck, we could have a black man pretend to be his Father and of course this would save his job b/c a minority can't be fired! It will look like he's being fired for being a minority! Throw in racial slurs because he has to overcome adversity just like in the real movie, the fake gay character was met with gay jokes and gay offensive slurs...and we have a movie! I wonder how that would go over yet this movie seems to be a hit. Interesting...

You know, if something makes you laugh as intended it succeeds. It is a great thing, especially if it avoids making you feel dirty afterwards.The basic story is only a device: wimpy guy pretends to be gay to save his job. This makes him fascinating to others including his estranged son.The framework provides opportunity for jokes and endearments — even a kitten. Even, my gosh, the visiting Japanese delegation bit. It is pleasant enough. But woven around that framework is a metastory about the wonder of the power of story. Here we have a complete loser, not merely ignored but belittled. A tiny story fragment is planted and around it grows all sorts of power fed by the situations brought by the people surrounding him. He is baffled, but like the rest of us has to go along. When he finally gets back to truth, he gets extra points because of the THAT story.Dancing around in the background is the ever trustworthy Depardieu who has his own story- trick played on him.This is delicate and deep, worthy of laughing at, a tiny story fragment planted in us around which we will build with what we bring.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Le Placard is funny, but its humor is not the physical humor like some treasured American comedies. The plot revolves around a boring accountant, François (Auteuil) who is about to get fired. Everyone finds him to be a terrible drag, including his ex-wife (who he still loves) and his teenage son. Distraught and determined to jump off his balcony, his new neighbor stops him and helps devise a plan to keep his job. All François has to do is allow his co-workers and boss to believe he is "out of the closet." The plot itself is very humorous, but in a very clever way. It is not a film for audiences who expect comedies to revolve around outrageous situations that would normally never happen. Le Placard's humor lies in the silly, yet slightly understandable reactions of François' coworkers to his new identity. As a comedy, the film did its job and provides many laughs and snickers. The plot is universal in the sense that homosexuality is something people tend to tip toe around. Overall, Le Placard was a well made film and definitely a good French comedy to pick up.