L’Antidote (2005) - film review

Jacques-Alain Marty is the head of Vladis Entreprises, one of the largest conglomerates in France.  His success is compromised by frequent anxiety attacks that cause him to sweat and muddle his words.  One day, he meets André Morin, a shareholder in his company, in whose presence his anxiety attacks completely vanish.  Realising that Morin is the antidote for his inexplicable condition, Jacques-Alain engages him as his personal assistant and moves him into his palatial house, to the bewilderment of his wife.  Whilst the morally incorruptible Morin is hardly the most suitable hireling for a corporate giant of Marty’s stature, he proves to be surprisingly useful...

L’Antidote, the debut film from director Vincent De Brus, is a curious hybrid that combines the traditional French "anti-buddy" comedy (in which two chalk-and-cheese characters are forced together into a union neither wants but which neither can escape from) with a visual and narrative style that appears to be aimed at teenagers.  Judging from the barrage of negative press the film has received, it looks as if this combination had very limited appeal.

Aside from the painful mismatch between content and style, the main reason why the film doesn’t quite work is a lacklustre, cliché-loaded script which brings together an implausible narrative, the most ludicrous comic book villains and jokes that are just too apparent and self-conscious to be funny – most of the gags just bounce back like ricocheting bullets.  This is a shame, because the film does touch on some very serious themes - the extent to which large corporations are wiping out small private enterprises, and the contemptuous way in which small shareholders are treated by large companies.  The film does little other than to remind us that, thanks to the rampant beast that is globalisation, the individual is increasingly a very small fish in a tank inhabited by some very hungry corporate piranhas.

What makes the film worth watching, despite its inescapable defects, is the surprisingly effective Clavier-Villeret double act.  Whilst it may not be as memorable or as successful as other famous French film partnerships (such as Bourvil and Louis de Funès or Gérard Depardieu and Pierre Richard), there is a definite rapport between the two actors which does allow for some great comedy.  Clavier is almost as good as he was in Les Visiteurs (1993) and manages to extort some humour from some very trite material.   However, he is almost eclipsed by Jacques Villeret, who calls to mind his memorable appearance in Le Dîner de cons (1998).  Once again, Villeret plays the likeable innocent who gets drawn into a bizarre game of intrigue, and once again he gives great value for money.  Tragically, the actor died just over a month before the film was released, aged 53 – a great loss to French cinema.

© James Travers 2007

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