Tais Toi!

Tais toi - 2003 French film directed by Francis Weber. From the director of 'Le Placard' and 'Le Diner des Cons' - two mismatched thieves become partners in further crime in this great comedy. Great comedy is timeless, which is why French filmmaker Francis Veber (The Dinner Game, The Closet) has been delighting audiences with a string of nicely turned farces for years. French stars line up to work with him, and this time he's secured a brilliant pairing in Gerard Depardieu and Jean Reno.

Quentin (Depardieu) is the oaf to end all oafs, a bank robber so stupid that he could single-handedly bring down the French underworld. The fun starts from the very first scene where Quentin (Depardieu) breaks into a Bureau de Change thinking it's a bank. He's immediately embroiled in a Pythonesque conversation about exchange rates for the Japanese Yen that the helpful clerk proffers. Quentin is sent to jail, which ought to be the safest place for him. But he's so annoying that every new cell-mate he gets ends up mad or ready to throttle him, until he's put into a cell with old school hardman Ruby (Jean Reno). In a predictable but beautifully acted plot development, the two mismatched thieves become partners in further crime. Tais Toi isn't a laugh-a-second comedy like Veber's masterpiece The Dinner Game, but it rarely drags either. The director's slick timing, inventiveness and mastery of so many different styles of comedy make for a delightful night out. Depardieu has done comedy before (for example, see his turn in Veber's The Closet), but Reno is the revelation here, using his tough guy persona to great comic effect. If you don't laugh at this you should be made to share a cell with Quentin! 85 minutes, unrated. French audio with no subtitles.