A Pain In The Ass (L'emmerdeur)
© 2008 Pulsar Productions - TF1 International - TF1 Films Production - Telema - EFVE Films
Yet another hilarious feature from the king of farce: Francis Veber (The Closet, The Dinner Game).
A media scrum and a swarm of security personnel have descended upon the town of Nice, where everyone is poised to see if an informant will tattle on those whose secrets he currently keeps: powerful people in high places.
So it's no surprise that a hit man has been sent along, to "eliminate" him before he sets foot in the courthouse.
Upon arriving in the town, the assassin gets set up in a hotel room. Next to him, in an adjoining suite, is a miserable man (Timsit) who has come to town to re-claim his ex-wife (Virginie Ledoyen). He's the "loser" Veber tends to include in his films, and, as always, the loser's name is "François Pignon" (though by far the best was Jacques Villaret's Pignon in The Dinner Game).
Can the assassin do his job, or will the pesky man in the adjoining suite drive him crazy?
Believe it or not, the assassin isn't the truly horrible character in this film (and Veber's farces tend to have at least one hideous character). That honour belongs to the new husband of Pignon's ex-wife: an odious psychiatrist called Dr Wolf (Pascal Elbé). Wolf by name, wolf by nature; he seduced Pignon's wife while he was supposed to be treating her.
The assassin, the loser in the next room, his ex-wife and her new husband, all end up in the hotel suite at various times, along with the bellboy. How? You'll have to watch it to find out.
Meanwhile, there is much amusement from the man being taken to the court in an armoured vehicle - with many stops along the way! He's well aware that a hitman will have been hired to bump him off, and, well, let's just say it has upset his stomach. He holds the clue to the film's title, in more ways than one.