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My Best Friend (Mon meilleur ami)

6/10

Stars: Daniel Auteuil, Dany Boon, Julie Gayet, Julie Durand

Director: Patrice Leconte

Friendless antiques dealer Francois (Auteuil) finds himself wagering the priceless vase he's just bought - on a crazy bet that he can actually produce a pal in 10 days.

Walking encyclopedia Bruno (Boon), a taxi driver, seems to hold the secret of sociability, so Francois sort-of-lures him into helping him gen up on how to make friends.

Alas, Bruno, a sophisticate in many ways, is a klutz in this field, and nothing seems to work. Even a schooltime 'chum', when tracked down, hates the sight of Francois. As he and Bruno go to a football match and dine together, it dawns on Francois that his best friend might be right under his nose.

Auteuil seems such an affable cove that the flimsy fable is hard to swallow, but it goes completely off the rails at the end when he does something so daft as to be completely incomprehensible. Auteuil and Boon are fine as far as the script will take them, but no one else really registers.

David Quinlan

France 2006. UK Distributor: Optimum. Colour by Kodak.
95 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 06 May 2007