Fantôme avec chauffeur (1996) - film review

Georges Morel, chauffeur to the wealthy industrialist Philippe Bruneau-Teissier, is gunned down by unknown assassins just after he discovers he has won a fortune on the national lottery.  A short while later, his employer is also killed, by his unscrupulous business partner, Édouard Martigues.  The two murdered men find themselves still in the land of the living – but, as ghosts, can only observe, not involve themselves in what they see.  Morel is appalled to find that his girlfriend has a secret lover, who is intent on recuperating the lottery money, whilst Teissier is preoccupied with his son and bringing Martigues to justice.  If only the two dead men could find some way to communicate with the living...

Directed by Gérard Oury, scripted by Francis Veber and starring the eternally magnificent Philippe Noiret, Fantôme avec chauffeur could have been one of the best French comic films of the 1990s.  Instead, it is a rather hackneyed, undisciplined  romp – albeit an occasionally amusing one – in the fantasy-comedy genre, clearly intended to fill cinema theatres rather than make any profound artistic statement.   The film makes great use of special effects but, whilst these are realised with great skill and imagination, they do become intrusive and, at times, irritating, as the film progresses.

With its boisterous comic book feel, simplistic characterisation, and trashy Americanised sentimentality, the film appears to be aimed at children, although the quintessentially French sex comedy elements would seem to belie this.  The film is entertaining in parts – thanks mainly to the efforts of its lead actors, Philippe Noiret and Gérard Jugnot – but its awkward mélange of genres, over-dependence on special effects and stomach-churning Disney-style ending are unlikely to be appreciated by true connoisseurs of French cinema.

© James Travers 2003

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