MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Grosse Fatigue’: A Quirky Dark Comedy

In “Grosse Fatigue,” a pitch-black comedy on the perils of fame, the popular French star Michel Blanc is writer, director and casts himself in dual roles, playing himself and a vicious, reckless impersonator bent upon destroying Blanc’s life and career.

Based on an idea by writer-director Bertrand Blier, for whom Blier starred in “Menage,” this quirky and original film is by turns funny, scary and finally, a meditation on the question of identity for an actor--and by extension, for ourselves--and even a lament for the decline of the French cinema.

It’s important to the enjoyment and appreciation of “Grosse Fatigue,” which translates idiomatically as “Dead Tired,” to try to see it as a French audience would see it. Usually when actors play themselves in a film they are treated as being more famous than they actually are, and this effect is magnified greatly by the fact that in the United States the bald, diminutive Blanc is memorable to us mainly from Patrice Lecomte’s “Monsieur Hire.”

Yet Blanc has made some 40 films and in France is also a TV star. Similarly, while the tall, beautiful Carole Bouquet, who also plays herself, is familiar to fans of French films since making her debut in Bun~uel’s 1977 “That Obscure Object of Desire,” she is best known in the United States as a star of the James Bond film, “For Your Eyes Only,” and as the face for Chanel No. 5.

In short, if Blanc is not to strike us as awesomely self-important, we have to take it on faith that he--and Bouquet too--are on home ground instantly recognized and pursued by fans everywhere they go.

Once past these considerations “Grosse Fatigue” proceeds with dispatch and a fine mastery of tone that allows Blanc’s predicament to seem often excruciating and excruciatingly funny at the same time.

Blanc’s double goes beyond freeloading at Cannes and boorish behavior at Regine’s to a rape of actress Josiane Balasko (also playing herself). In a momentary stroke of luck Balasko drops charges, allowing Blanc’s old friend Bouquet, for whom he’s been struggling to write a script for years, to whisk him off to the solitude of her elegant country estate in Provence.

Instead of rest, however, Blanc by chance at last encounters his impersonator, whose real name is Patrick Olivier, who at 40 has simply flipped out, claiming his life has been ruined by being mistaken for the star his entire adult life. Yet just as things are looking up for Blanc, the film takes a dark swerve no Hollywood film would dare.

Blanc is adept at playing himself and his tormented and tormenting look-alike--it’s as if Blanc were revealing the bad as well as the good sides of his own psyche. He is also able to draw sparkling portrayals from others, especially the charming, unself-conscious Bouquet. In his imaginary self-portrait, Blanc moves from feeling sorry for himself to an acceptance of self in the most extreme of circumstances.

* MPAA rating: R, for language and nudity. Times guidelines: It also includes some violence and has complex adult themes.

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‘Grosse Fatigue’ (‘Dead Tired’)

Michel Blanc: Michel Blanc/Patrick Olivier Carole Bouquet: Carole Bouquet Josiane Balasko: Josiane Balasko Philippe Noiret: Philippe Noiret A Miramax Zoe presentation. Writer-director Michel Blanc. Based on an idea by Bertrand Blier. Producer Patrice Ledoux. Cinematographer Eduardo Serra. Editor Maryline Monthieux. Costumes Elisabeth Tavernier. Music Rene-Marc Bini. Set decorator Carlos Conti. In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.

* Exclusively at the Westside Pavilion, 10800 West Pico Blvd., West Los Angeles. (310) 475-0202.