Caught by tabloid paparazzi with his mistress Elena, a famous and beautiful fashion model, billionaire Pierre Levasseur tries to avoid a divorce by inventing a preposterous lie. He uses the presence of a passerby in the photo to claim to his wife that it's not him Elena is seeing but the other man, one François Pignon. Pignon is a modest little man who works as a parking valet. To make the story convincing, Elena has to move in with Pignon.
Acting
Gad Elmaleh's hangdog everyman vs. Daniel Auteuil's magnificent bastard energy.
Writing
Veber's clockwork plotting—every lie spawns three new disasters.
Production
Belleville apartments vs. luxury penthouses—production design does the class commentary.
Director
Francis Veber
Gad Elmaleh
François Pignon
Alice Taglioni
Éléna Simonsen
Daniel Auteuil
Pierre Levasseur
Kristin Scott Thomas
Christine Levasseur
Richard Berry
Maître Foix
Virginie Ledoyen
Emilie
Dany Boon
Richard
Michel Jonasz
André Pignon
Michel Aumont
Doctor
Laurent Gamelon
Paul
Patrick Mille
Pascal
Michèle Garcia
Louise Pignon
Philippe Magnan
Berman
Jean-Yves Chilot
Hervé
Irina Ninova
Marie
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Veber remade his own 1976 film 'Le Jouet' as 'The Toy' with Richard Pryor, but The Valet is original—though it shares his obsession with ordinary men thrust into impossible situations.
Gad Elmaleh, Morocco's biggest comedy export, essentially plays his established persona—the humble immigrant everyman—which made him France's highest-grossing comedian for years.
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