Mr. Blake at Your Service!
John Malkovich unexpectedly takes the lead in a French feel-good comedy that means well but misfires.
The butler did it: John Malkovich
Image courtesy of Vertigo Releasing.
Whoever would have guessed that being John Malkovich would lead to taking the starring role in a film made in France and speaking almost throughout in French? The surprise is all the greater because Mr. Blake at Your Service! is so far from being a distinguished work. To be fair, it should be said that in making it Gilles Legardinier was only seeking to entertain by means of a lightweight feel-good film based on a novel of his own. That was Complètement cramé! which was published in 2012 and is one of the books which has made him a bestselling author in France. Furthermore, considering that he had never before directed a film, this is technically no disgrace. It is also pleasingly photographed in wide screen and colour by Stéphane Le Parc and its likely audience will surely relish the fact that its main location is the Château du Bois-Cornillé in Brittany. Such escapist fare is most likely to appeal to older audiences and serves a function but, however popular the original novel, the screenplay written by Legardinier and Christel Henon reveals a work that lacks credibility on any level and is equally weak in providing humorous and engaging dialogue.
John Malkovich's role is that of a widower, Andrew Blake, who leaves his home in London having decided to revisit the chateau where as a young man he had met his French wife. He arrives without having booked a room but under the belief that it is taking guests although in fact the owner, Nathalie Beauvillier (Fanny Ardant), is only contemplating that possibility due to financial pressures. However, Nathalie's housekeeper and cook, Odile (Émilie Dequenne), has taken the initiative by placing an advertisement for a butler and believes that the Englishman who has arrived at the chateau has turned up to apply for that post. The aim of the tale is to show how this visitor finds a fresh purpose in life by aiding all the people connected with the chateau. They include Nathalie herself who is a widow, a neighbour named Philippe Magnier (Philippe Bas) who, living a hermit’s life, is secretly in love with Odile and the one other employee, the young Manon (Eugénie Anselin). The latter is pregnant by a youth who appears to have deserted her so she becomes the first of those who receive advice and help from Andrew. Later he will coach Magnier in the best way to make an impression on Odile and, although any involvement in her money problems is initially discouraged, Andrew’s standing in business will help Nathalie to avoid selling the chateau. In addition he takes drastic steps to put in her place the woman who had been the mistress of Nathalie’s late husband (this role being taken by co-writer Christel Henon).
For all this to take place Andrew has to choose to take up the post of butler and to be convincing in that role with only Odile let into the secret of this imposture. This improbable situation is the base on which the film relies and if what follows were more witty or affecting one might go along with it. But sadly the level of the comic convention in the dialogue is made clear when Philip Magnier having been introduced to Andrew fails to get his name right and proceeds to call him Mr Brake and Mr Steak. But if the writing fails to rise to the occasion there is also another major stumbling block here. Having been married to a French woman, Andrew is presented as somebody able to speak French but only to do so in slow, grating and heavily accented phrases. The film is subtitled so the translation is what one follows, but Malkovich’s delivery if not an illogical feature drones on in a way that many people will find tiresome and which would take the sparkle out of his dialogue had it had any in the first place. Quite apart from that accent, Malkovich, who can be a fine actor, seems here a rather stolid presence. In contrast one finds that the other main players all satisfy: Ardant’s role may be unmemorable but she has real presence still, Philippe Bas never overplays and Émilie Dequenne in what was sadly one of her last roles (she died of cancer aged 43) gives a well-judged performance as Odile. Those drawn to a lightweight piece in a grand setting will also doubtless welcome the not inconsiderable presence of a cat named Mephisto and, albeit much more briefly, there is an appealing dog too.
Undistinguished as the film is, one is encouraged by the supporting players and the location to accept it on its own terms. However, one is then distracted from doing that by a ridiculous scene in which Andrew dons a female wig to play the role of Odile when instructing Philippe Magnier on manners helpful for wooing her. At least that is soon over and done with, but in the late stages the plotting itself goes way over the top in two consecutive sequences. By this time the fact that Mr. Blake at Your Service! is a feeble example of the populist genre to which it aspires is all too clear even if its message — “never lose hope” — is as acceptable as those elements in the film that do pass muster.
Original title: Complètement Cramé!
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: John Malkovich, Fanny Ardant, Émilie Dequenne, Philippe Bas, Eugénie Anselin, Al Ginter, Anne Brionne, Christel Henon, Stephanie Clements Jodar.
Dir Gilles Legardinier, Pro Christel Henon, Lilian Eche, Clément Calvet and Jeremie Fajner, Screenplay Gilles Legardinier and Christel Henon from Legardinier's novel Complètement cramé!, Ph Stéphane Le Parc, Pro Des Hérald Najar, Ed Yves Deschamps and Chrystel Alépée, Music Erwann Chandon, Costumes Magdalena Labuz.
Bidipul Productions/Superprod Films etc.-Vertigo Releasing.
110 mins. France Luxembourg. 2023. US Rel: 20 June 2025. UK Rel: 3 October 2025. Cert. PG.
