Les invités de mon père

The more I see of Fabrice Luchini, the more he impresses me. I don't think I have ever encountered a comic actor with a better sense of timing and pathos. Chaplin was legendary for playing human tragedy absolutely straight, and making us laugh despite ourselves, no matter how much we might really want to cry. Luchini has the same incredible skill. A twist of the mouth, an arch of the eyebrow, a lowering of the gaze, and disaster is transformed into hilarity.

In his period pieces like Molière or Beaumarchais he was superb, but you have to know your French classics to really appreciate his achievement. In this contemporary gem we see him at his very best. The would be PC tolerant son of an aging radical, he has to balance his political correctness against his bourgeois ideas of family and social order, all the while dealing with his rôle as a husband, a father and a successful lawyer.

The dialogue is understated - there are no belly laughs in this comedy, but as the plot unrolls, we get a real feel of the tensions inherent in present day urban living - family demands, career demands, social requirements, socio-political issues, you name it. A sense of humour is given us to cope with the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." Fabrice Luchini handles it all with impeccable restraint.

Restraint goes out the window, though, for Karin Viard in the rôle of his sister. Her over-the-top reaction to the family situation results in a torrid relationship with her partner in her medical practice that provides the near slapstick relief that the plot demands.

Supporting cameos by a couple of up and coming young child actors - Max Renaudin and Emma Siniavski serve to provide the gilding of the lily.

Watch it and rejoice.