John Malkovich and Fanny Ardent in Mr Blake At Your Service. Photo / supplied
John Malkovich and Fanny Ardent in Mr Blake At Your Service. Photo / supplied
Movie review: Mr Blake at Your Service is the predictable story of a man who takes a literal trip down memory lane in the hope of salving his own pain, but winds up fixing the lives and broken hearts of others.
Successful businessman Andrew Blake (John Malkovich) dodges an awardsdinner held in his honour and decamps to the French countryside to revisit the place where he first met his wife, decades earlier.
Because of a miscommunication (the first of several in this Anglo-French culture clash), on arrival it turns out there is no room at the inn, so haughty housekeeper Odile (Émilie Dequenne) lets the polite Brit pretend to be the manor’s new butler so that he can spend some time there. Soon, Blake discovers that the reclusive owner, Mme Beauvillier (the perennially glamorous Fanny Ardant), may actually need his services.
Based on director Gilles Legardinier’s own novel, Complètement cramé!, the film is lightweight and as fluffy as the cat that stars in some of the lamer moments.
It veers into farce, with Malkovich donning lipstick and a wig to teach an oafish French handyman table manners, and later, when an unexpected visit threatens to blow Blake’s cover as a household servant.
Mostly, it’s just strange watching the great actor attempt Gallic comedy, and difficult at first to believe Malkovich as a benevolent, grieving widow with no hidden agenda, given his long legacy of playing baddies.
But alas, there is no hint of a dangerous liaison in the plot of this tepid, infrequently amusing comedy-drama. Andrew Blake is simply an Englishman abroad, one with a personal mission to fulfil and fluency in French, which sounds weirdly stilted from the lips of Malkovich’s staccato deadpan.
Unsurprisingly, given it’s a placid farce about Anglo-French misunderstandings, and one that relies upon its awkward lead and a non-speaking feline for laughs, Mr Blake is barely serviceable.
Rating out of five: ★★
Mr Blake At Your Service, directed by Gilles Legardinier, is in cinemas now.
