. . . . March 6 – 16, 2014

Last day of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2014 press screenings, three comedies of varying levels of success.

UNDER THE RAINBOW/AU BOU DU CONTE (Agnès Jaoui 2013)

The reliable Jaoui, with typically grumpy collaborator Jean-Pierre Bacri, delivers a romantic comedy of multiple resolutions, highly polished and genial, if not her very best work.

TIP TOP (Serge Bozon 2013)

This combo of ethic study, police procedural and oddball comedy from actor and sometime director Bozon still seems meandering and not very funny, or as various French critics said, not "top" at all. Hard to see it as a wise decision on the part of Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Kiberlain and François Damiens to lend their names to this effort.

THE FRENCH MINISTER/QUAY D'ORSAY (Bertrand Tavernier 2013)

Bertraind Tavernier's The French Minister/Quay d'Orsay is his first foray into political comedy, and also a peculiar combination of factual account and surreal reinvention. Rendez-Vous cloing night film. Good performances by Thierry Lhermitte as the minister, Raphaël Personnaz as his "language" aide, Niels Arestrup as chief of staff, Julie Gayet as advisor for Africa, and others.