91Èȱ¬

An uncommonly frothy offering from Patrice Leconte, a director better known for his thoughtful period pieces and intense psycho-dramas, My Best Friend still has enough nuance and character shadings to raise it above the norm. Its strongest suit, though, is the Odd Couple relationship between Daniel Auteuil's frosty antiques dealer Francois and Dany Boon's Bruno, the chatty cab driver he enlists to help him show he's not the Billy No Mates his business partner (Julie Gayet) has him down as.

In story terms it's pure sitcom. Francois' gormless attempts to ingratiate himself with old acquaintances and total strangers alike give the film a host of hilariously cringe-worthy set-pieces (Accosting a school contemporary in a hypermarket, he is appalled to learn he was universally detested even then). Once Auteuil realises Boon is exactly the gullible patsy he's looking for, the plot takes a more serious turn, though Leconte thankfully recovers his funny bone in time for an ingenious climax involving, of all things, the French version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

"URBANE AND SOPHISTICATED"

The always reliable Auteuil invests his deluded anti-hero with a touching pathos that offsets his crushing insensitivity, while Leconte's polished direction is as urbane and sophisticated as ever; for all that, it's evident that both director and star are punching considerably below their weight. It's left to Boon, then, to give the material its gentle ring of truth, his trivia-spouting loser emerging as the true protagonist of a tale that's practically crying out for an American remake.

In French with English subtitles.

My Best Friend is released in UK cinemas on Friday 11th May 2007.