La Vérité si je mens! 3 (2012) - film review

Things are looking up for Eddie, Dov, Yvan and their friends.  Not for them the grim prospect of trying to eke out an existence in the less fashionable precincts of Paris.  They are now happily ensconced in the flourishing district of Aubervilliers, where old Jewish entrepreneurs have been supplanted by dynamic young Chinese wholesalers.   They are still the happy band of friends they have always been; if anything, their friendship has been strengthened by their previous escapades.  Dov is as frivolous as ever, Eddie just as enterprising, Serge still the same compulsive liar.  As for Patrick, he is in love...  But a storm is coming and the old friends risk being torn apart by an ill wind that will test their resources and mutual loyalties to the limit...

The long-awaited third (and final?) installment in the popular La Vérité si je mens! series isn’t so much a sequel to what went before as a near-wholesale remake of the second episode, complete with recycled gags and an ending so predictable it is almost painful to watch.  Can it really be eleven years since La Vérité si je mens! 2 triumphed at the French box office, luring an audience of 7.5 million with its exuberant send-up of sharp practice and dodging dealing in the clothing industry?  The much-loved stars of the first two films are back, looking slightly worse for wear but as energetic and entertaining as ever, many having since become major stars of French cinema.   The indefatigable José Garcia is in his element and serves as the human dynamo for a film that, without his hyperactive presence, deserves to fall flat and die of shame within the first ten minutes.  Fans of the first two films will be in seventh heaven to see Garcia teaming up once again with his old buddies Richard Anconina, Vincent Elbaz, Bruno Solo and Gilbert Melki.  Watching the film, you can’t help feeling that you are taking part in a family reunion.

Given how long the screenwriters Gérard Bitton and Michel Munz have had to come up with a third La Vérité si je mens! narrative, it is surprising how comprehensively they have failed to deliver the goods.  Admittedly, their latest concoction heads off in the right direction, out of Paris and off to the Far East, but rather than offer what you expect it to - a wry commentary on the impact of globalisation on manufacturing - it is content to rerun the plot of the previous film whilst rehearsing all the old culture clash jokes.   Not surprisingly, director Thomas Gilou appears uninspired by the second rate script he is lumbered with and it is left pretty well to his ensemble of acting talent to salvage what they can.  The gags and story may be stale and tacky but, thanks to Garcia, Anconina and company, the end result is far from unappealing.  What La Vérité si je mens! 3 lacks in originality is more than made up for by the sheer enthusiasm of its cast.  Whilst it can scarcely hold a candle to the previous La Vérité si je mens! film, this third frenetic offering of fashion-themed humour is still a cut above your average mainstream French comedy and, having already attracted an audience of over 4.5 million, looks set to be one of the big French cinema hits of 2012.

© James Travers 2012

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