Tango

Patrice Leconte had a considerable worldwide arthouse hit with his erotic 1992 film "Le Mari De La Coiffeuse", but his follow-up the next year, "Tango", did not get the same kind of distribution/recognition. It's a deadpan, offbeat, and sometimes quite funny black comedy / road movie which, although apparently featherweight, actually has a lot to say about men's conflicted feelings about women (you can't live with them, you can't live without them). In addition to the top-notch three male leads, there is a too-brief appearance by the extraordinarily beautiful Judith Godrèche, and a funny cameo by Jean Rochefort. **1/2 out of 4.

A stunt pilot named Vincent, played by Richard Bohringer (The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover) finds out his wife is cheating on him while he flies his plane. He forces her lover's car off the road and kills him; then takes his wife up in the plane and loses her. He is acquitted in court by a judge, Philippe Noiret (La Grande Bouffe). Later, while Vincent is fishing with a rod with no line, he is approached by the judge and his nephew Paul, Thierry Lhermitte (Le Diner de Cons) and asked to kill Paul's wife, or do twenty years in prison, the judge tells him. He reluctantly agrees, and the trio go in search of her together. Most of the talk is about women, and man's inevitable urge for them. There's some good scenes; one where a truck driver smashes up their car being one. The cast and acting is good; there's also a cameo by Jean Rochefort (The Phantom of Liberty) as a bellboy. It's an entertaining ride.

This movie plays along the lines of fidelity as well as the often perceived French attitude towards sex. One of the reasons I watched this was to see for myself how Thierry Lhermitte earned himself a reputation and I was not the least bit disappointed. However, I felt the film tended to drag down after a while and lose its momentum. The most outrageous was perhaps the girl who asked to be impregnated. This is a very "male" kind of movie and is strikingly true I guess for the male population in terms of their attitudes. However I felt that the female voice was lacking and not given an opportunity to express itself. But the ending was marvellous, albeit a long-awaited one.

This adorable road move through France is seemingly deeply misogynistic. Except for that it is the exact opposite. Rather, it puts all sorts of masculine hipocracy and some of the very real fears propelling indulgent male behaviour front and center and make sport with them. The film is romantic and possibly one of the funniest things I've ever seen. If you can take an off colour joke...

... and I'm sorry I did, because this is one of Leconte's weakest efforts. After Ridicule, The Hairdresser's Husband, Monsieur Hire, Intimate Strangers, you expect only the best from Leconte: here though, with a script that plays like it came out of the bottom drawer, you get only a very lame comedy that the three male leads walk through.

I will say that the cameo by Carole Bouquet is nicely set up and provides the only witty moments. She's daring where Lhermitte is timid, wish there had been a lot more like it. Miou-Miou, whose work I have admired in the past, is here stuck with a poor part as Lhermitte's wife. Michele Laroque is voluptuous and vacuous as Bohringer's wife.