Club de rencontres (1987)
Directed by Michel Lang

Film Review

Director Michel Lang scored a notable success with his first film, an amiable coming-of-age piece titled À nous les petites Anglaises (1976), so it is hardly surprising that he followed this with a similar kind of 'teen movie' L'Hôtel de la plage (1978). Club de rencontres, made a decade on, is a similar kind of undemanding, low-key sex comedy, but dealing with grown adults acting like teenagers rather than the other way around.  This time, the Lang magic is distinctly lacking - the characters are superficial, the humour strained, the situations neither funny nor convincing.  Indeed, it is only the calibre of the cast that prevents it from being unbearably dull and silly.

The irresistible Francis Perrin fits snugly into the lead role, an everyman sort named Bernard who is about to have his life turned inside-out when he runs into an old school friend, Nicolas, whilst impatiently waiting for his divorce to be finalised. It turns out that the enterprising Nicolas runs a singles' club and so naturally he invites Bernard to join his club in the hope of finding a new soul mate.  Even though Nicolas is himself married he is a serial philanderer, and this creates no end of problems for him.  When Christiane, one of Nicholas's amorous conquests, turns up out of the blue looking for temporary accommodation in Paris, Bernard reluctantly agrees to take her in for a few days.  By way of gratitude, Nicolas offers his friend full access to his club. What happens next is fairly predictable, at least if you're a devotee of trashy French sex comedies.

Francis Perrin was well-suited to headline this kind of comedy, having directed similar films of his own (somewhat more adeptly than Lang) - for example Le Joli coeur (1984).  Despite sterling efforts from the cast to make the film work, Club de rencontres is ultimately sunk by its flagrant dearth of flair and imagination.  It's by no means the worst French comedy of the 1980s (most were pretty grim), but it hasn't enough style, depth or originality to make it interesting enough to sit through.  Just a dull little comedy, written and directed with only a modicum of skill.  No wonder this was Michel Lang's final work for the cinema.  For the remainder of his career, he lent his talents to French television, working on TV movies and series such as Aldo tous risques.