Product Description

This uproariously upbeat comedy stars actor/writer/director/Michel Blanc (MONSIEUR HIRE) as both a mischievous celebrity impersonator ... and a French movie star who's being impersonated! Blanc's the star whose life takes a hilarious turn when he's hauled in by the police for a series of crazy incidents he can't seem to recall. But when he learns that an impostor is out to ruin him, he enlists a sexy starlet friend (Carole Bouquet -- FOR YOUR EYES ONLY) to help him find his double and save his reputation! Also featuring Philippe Noiret (IL POSTINO -- THE POSTMAN) and Roman Polanski (Academy Award(R)-winning director of THE PIANIST, 2002), this brilliantly original comic delight received Best Screenplay at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69183 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-08-05
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 81 minutes

From The New Yorker
Michel Blanc wrote and directed this picaresque comedy, which is small, brainy, and downright odd-exactly like its creator. He also takes the two leading roles: Michel Blanc, and someone pretending to be Michel Blanc. (If that sounds tortuous, it is.) The former, a balding performer with writer's block, discovers that the latter is using his name to lead a far more glamorous life; with Carole Bouquet (also playing herself) as his sidekick, he goes off in search of his alter ego. The movie measures the corrosive effects of fame, and it's wacky and provocative, yet not quite wacky enough-a bolder film would have suggested not just that the hero had a look-alike but that he was genuinely split. Still, there are enough sly jokes and gratuitous digs at Gérard Depardieu to lend it good cheer. In French. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Enjoyably quirky French comedy... Poor quality DVD
"Grosse Fatigue" is a dark French comedy that borders on farce. It revolves around stolen identities, namely that of the French comic actor, Michel Blanc. Michel Blanc has been called France's Woody Allen. He is short, bald, sad-faced and plump. A really pathetic sad-sack. Aside from Blanc himself, it also stars other well known French actors such as Philippe Noiret, Carole Bouquet, Josiane Balasko, Charlotte Gainsbourg and even director Roman Polanski, all playing themselves. Michel Blanc finds himself in trouble with the law and with his friends when someone who looks like him takes to impersonating him in public and creating havoc in his name. It gets to the point where he is convinced he is having a nervous breakdown and goes to see a psychiatrist who advises rest in the countryside. There he and his actress friend, the lovely Carole Bouquet, stumble onto his impersonator (also played by Blanc). While Carole Bouquet gives the impersonator a piece of her mind, Michel Blanc surreptitiously cosies up to the idea hatched by the impersonator of using the double to take care of the tasks he himself would like to be rid of. This results in the double taking over his life and the real Michel Blanc being forced onto the streets, a destitute. Along the way, Blanc takes a peek at the nature of celebrity, stardom and towards the end, even has Philippe Noiret deliver a tirade on the demise of French cinema, helpless against the relentless assault of Hollywood. As they walk towards the Arc de Triomphe, Noiret launches into a scathing parody of Hollywood movie dialogue peppered with American curses and swear words, saying that this is all you hear in French cinemas today. He goes on, "We'll all end up as mice in their amusement parks". This is a hilarious movie but also a painful one, and a movie that would probably mean more to a French audience than to foreign ones. There are lots of in-jokes related to French cinema and self-referential comments. A familiarity with French cinema is not a must but it would add greatly to your enjoyment of it. The film itself I would give 4.5 stars.

With regards to this 2005 DVD, this is the exact same DVD released several years ago by Buena Vista. It is absolutely bare-bones. No insert, no extras save for 3 self-serving promo trailers advertising unrelated Miramax releases. Worse still, it is in the wrong aspect ratio. The original theatrical aspect ratio is supposed to be 1.85:1. The DVD transfer is however cropped to 1.66:1 (Standard European TV screen). It is non-anamorphic (NOT enhanced for widescreen TV). The picture quality is just passable. The original color scheme is already rather drab but the transfer makes it positively flat. There are scattered nicks and specks throughout the print. As Buena Vista is a Disney affiliate, I can see where their stick-it-to-the-consumer attitude is from. Disney is notorious for releasing substandard DVDs with a couldn't-care-less attitude toward aspect ratios, print quality and transfer quality. Lately I've noticed Buena Vista (along with other studios) re-releasing their old DVD titles, advertised as supposedly "new" releases, without bothering to remaster them or improving on them in any way. The only good thing about this DVD is that it offers you the choice of removing the yellow English subtitles. This DVD deserves at most a rental recommendation. Better to wait till this film re-emerges under a different distibutor.

Hilarious!
Even though I didn't know who half these actors were, no matter. It's just as entertaining, witty and FULL of twists and turns. A very funny movie.

Drollery, French Style
Michel Blanc must have read my review of "Bingo Bongo," posted on this site the other day, in which I commented that Carole Bouquet, despite having done serious roles with the three Bs (Bunuel, Bond, and Blier -- ha ha) would be perfect in a comedy. Then Blanc jumped into a time machine to 1994, and ... bingo, bongo ... made "Dead Tired," a romp-cum-farce-cum-satire aimed at celebrity in general and movie stars in particular.

It turns out that one of the world's most beautiful women is also, well, a hoot to be around. It's worth getting this movie just to watch the absolutely amazing transformation of character from Bouquet's previous roles, where she did indeed play an "ice queen" -- a line from this movie -- to this one where she is as nice as can be, down to earth and approachable, and not at all the famous and glamorous movie star and Chanel #5 model. Her rapport with Blanc is fun to watch too, both of them -- see the movie and you'll find out why two.

Carole Lombard would have been proud.

P.S. If you don't know why Josianne Belasko (literally) gets a black eye in this movie, she played the secretary in "Too Beautiful for You" who has an affair with Bouquet's husband (Depardieu). This bit of business is Blanc's idea of just deserts, no doubt, though I wouldn't be surprised at all to find that Bouquet herself asked him put in the scene. There are also sarcastic comments aimed at Depardieu, for the same reason.

Enjoy!