Without Friends Like These...

The last time I saw the talented French actor, Daniel Auteuil, was in the brilliant thriller, "Cache". While I am no expert on French cinema it is obvious that Mr. Auteuil is the real deal. "My Best Friend" (Mon Meilleur Ami) presents Mr. Auteuil in a totally different role. Here he plays François Coste, a successful antiques dealer who has a big hole in his life: He has no friends. I don't mean a couple of not so close friends. We're talking nothing even vaguely approximating a friend.

At a lively dinner in a restaurant, François is with a group including Catherine (Julie Gayet), his business partner. One by one each person tells that they know he has no friends. Embarrassed, he scoffs at this notion and offers to bet that he has a very close best friend. Catherine takes him up on the wager and the plot is underway.

François, much to his shock and dismay, finds that they are right. He has no friends and in fact, has never had one. He seems confused as how to rectify the situation but his non-existent social skills ensure that he will have no success acquiring a friend. In walks, or rather drives, Dany Boon (Bruno Bouley), a cab driver who François finds himself a passenger with on two different occasions. All of a sudden the answer is staring François in the face but he sees nothing. The rest of the film is spent on François realizing the obvious and the ramifications of their chance meeting.

"My Best Friend" is light comedy that would be way too schmaltzy if it were made in Hollywood. Even though it is made in France it still suffers from some glaring potholes, not the least of which is the fact that François is divorced and has a kid. It is hard to imagine him ever forming an attachment with a female that could lead to marriage. Sex, no doubt, but not matrimony. Nevertheless, it works well enough so that you won't be wondering why you decided to see it. The film is nobody's best friend. It is, at best, a work friend, who you will never see again once one of you is no longer with the company.