Foreign Title: Après VousDirector: Pierre Salvadori
There’s an old saying that warns—once you save someone’s life, you’re responsible for it. There’s an even more sarcastic adage utilized on the DVD description of Pierre Salvadori’s delectable comedy Après Vous that “no good deed goes unpunished.” The always-charming Daniel Auteuil received a Best Actor nomination in his native France for his performance as Antoine Letoux, the quintessential Good Samaritan who saves the life of suicidal Louis, only to spend the rest of the film trying to get the sad sack back on his feet. Making room in his small apartment, Antoine offers Louis a place to stay, a respectable position as a sommelier in his restaurant and manages to track down the man’s former love Blache (the lovely, understated Sandrine Kiberlain), only to realize that he’s fallen in love with the young woman as well. Affable French romantic comedy—charming, light, sexy and quite smart—the only drawback to Après Vous is that at times, the grating character of Louis comes off as so helpless that he’s an irritating detraction to the piece as a whole. Still, the film makes an irresistible choice for a romantic evening in. Note: just try to get Camille Bazbaz’s catchy “Papa Tango Charly” out of your head, which was so addictive that I was still humming it days later.
Featured in Après Vous
"Papa Tango Charly" by Camille Bazbaz
"Papa Tango Charly" by Camille Bazbaz
