Menage

Stars: Gerard Depardieu (1492, Green Card, Cyrano de Bergerac), Michel Blanc (Prospero's Books, Monsieur Hire), Miou-Miou (Entre Nous, La Lectrice). You've got to hand French director Bertrand Blier credit for sheer chutzpah. With his Oscar-winning Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, Blier gave new meaning to the concept of consenting adultery, while 1981's Beau Pere managed to be a sensitive comedy about incest. Menage, a relentlessly ribald go-for-broke farce, stars Blanc and Miou-Miou as Bob and Monique, a starving couple. Bob's a wimp, and Monique's a mouthy tyrant. Enter Antoine (Depardieu) who promptly knocks Monique on her can, throws money at her, and takes Bob under his meaty wing. Under Antoine's tutelage, the couple learns to burgle, and the first half of the film follows the menage as they rob one rich household after another. During this time, it becomes evident that Antoine has rather overt sexual designs on poor Bob. Wavering in the twilight zone between heterosexuality and homosexuality, Bob is one confused unit. But Antoine's blustery charm and skimpy briefs eventually win the day, and Monique is out on her ear. Then things really start to get weird. Two things hamper Menage's effectiveness. First, the humor during the first half is particularly strident and seems forced, and secondly, the subtitles are small and occasionally unreadable. Given the tremendous progress that "enhanced" and "yellow" subtitles have made for foreign film accessibility, there's no excuse for subjecting people any longer to poor subtitles. Audience: Never-say-die foreign film buffs. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—Aug. 4, 2009—Koch Lorber, 84 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, $24.98—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1986's Ménage (Evening Dress) boasts a good transfer, but no extras beyond trailers. Bottom line: a disappointing extras package for a disappointing film.]