This ‘Valet’ Takes You on a Fun, Romantic and Sweet Ride (Movie Review)
The Valet
Rating: 9/10
Director: Richard Wong
Writers: Bob Fisher and Rob Greenberg; based on the film by Francis Veber
Style: Romantic Comedy
Time: 124 minutes
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8fVWnjvlEk
Review by Mike Szymanski
Rarely, if ever, are American remakes of good foreign comedies the same as the original. You often wonder why even try? It’s not necessary.
However, in this case, the Americanized version of “The Valet” from the French version (“La Doublure” in 2006) is much better than the original in my estimation. It is more sweet, more sentimental, and more funny.
The original is delightful, of course, and includes the cast of Kristin Scott Thomas and Daniel Auteuil, but the American update actually has more depth and meaning for me.
Samara Weaving plays Olivia Allan, who is one of the most recognizable faces in the world and as an actress has a rather insulated life, constantly surrounded by paparazzi and people she pays to be around her like assistants, agents and publicists. (You know Samara from “Nine Perfect Strangers” with Nicole Kidman and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” with Frances McDormand.)
But, Olivia is having an affair with a billionaire, played by Max Greenfield (whom you know from “New Girl”) and he’s married (to Betsy Brandt from “Breaking Bad” and “Magic Mike”) so they are sneaking around, and cannot be found out.
The Valet himself is wonderfully portrayed by Eugenio Derbez (whom you may have seen in the most recent Best Picture Oscar winner “CODA.”) He has a long wide smile that goes all the way across his face and is reminiscent of the rubbery-faced Rowan Atkinson (“Mr. Bean.”)
After the Valet, actress and the billionaire get caught by a paparazzi photo together, the billionaire’s lawyer schemes a plan that explains that the famous actress Olivia is actually going out with this schlub of a valet named Antonio.
To make the ruse look more real, the actress spends time with Antonio’s family and his mother whom he lives with after he and his wife broke up.
Carmen Salinas is brilliant as the mother, who comes across as a strict diva mother, but is also hard-working and strong. Her comic relief is particularly hysterical as she has a secret romance with their landlord, an Asian man Mr. Kim who doesn’t speak any English or Spanish, played by Ji Yong Lee.
This is Carmen’s last role before she passed away in real life at 82 in December 2021, and that is why the movie is dedicated to her. The sex talk, and outrageous behavior from this mama will have you laughing out loud.
Not only is this movie about socio-economic classes, and visible and invisible people, but it’s about the amazing mixes of races in Los Angeles, particularly Latino, Asian and white. It deals with the problems of regentrification, taking over poor neighborhoods and the pitfalls of being famous. It also deals with repressed and hidden sexualities and attractions, as well as aging, poverty and death. Ultimately it’s all about loneliness, too.
The movie star realizes that a walk around MacArthur Park in Los Angeles makes her rather invisible. The valet talks about how rich people don’t even look at him when giving him their car keys, making him invisible.
She says, “It’s kind of nice being invisible.”
He says, “Being invisible is no fun.”
Antonio isn’t selfish when he agrees to play the actress’s boyfriend, and only asks for $12,850 which is an amount that his estranged wife needs for a debt. Meanwhile, the billionaire is giving his secret girlfriend a handwritten diary from Bette Davis written on the set of “Now, Voyager.”
The actress doesn’t want bad publicity because she’s premiering a new movie “Earhart” about Amelia Earhart. The billionaire’s wife doesn’t believe the couple is for real, and she hires a private investigator to tail them, and meanwhile the billionaire has someone keeping watch over the new couple, too and makes sure the photographers follow them wherever they go.
Director Richard Wong explains, “The Valet is a multi-generational, multi-cultural comedy in which people from two different worlds discover the humanity in each other. What struck me most about The Valet is how closely my family resembled Antonio’s family and telling their story was like telling mine.”
Antonio isn’t comfortable at the red carpet premieres or the lavish parties he accompanies Olivia with, but the actress is increasingly comfortable with the home-life of her faux paramour.
In order to give the photographers’ a show, Olivia feigns some wild sex that they can shoot through a window from across the street — and a lot of the time she’s acting without Antonio involved. He goes to the refrigerator while the moaning and screaming goes on and his mother sees him in the kitchen and says, “I know about those new sex toys.”
Olivia misses having family and close connections she sees with Antonio’s family, and doesn’t even matter when the apartment is filled with complete strangers who want to meet her when she wakes up the next day at the apartment. And of course, his estranged wife is suddenly more attractive to Antonio than ever before.
Antonio has a group of close friends as part of the valets he works with, played by Carlos Santos and Armando Hernandez who add some comic relief while their friend lives the life they can only dream about. Tiana Okay portrays Olivia’s personal assistant who plays a crucial role in keeping Antonio and Olivia’s ruse going for the public.
Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez as Antonio is an upcoming superstar to watch out for. He was outstanding as the choir teacher Bernardo in “CODA” the Best Picture winner last year, and this shows his stretch as an actor in a very different role. He is listed as one of the producers of “The Valet” and it truly shows the Latino personality of Los Angeles, and a lot of it is in Spanish too. All that adds to the authenticity and humor of this film. It truly is not a remake of the French version, more of an “inspired by” or “reimagining” of the original 2006 comedy.
Romantic comedies are hard to pull off in this generation of cynicism and need for reality, but this one is funny and believable as incredible as romance seems to be these days. The film turns a lot of stereotypes on its head, and the characters take some surprising turns along the way. It even had a jaded critic like me very surprised about what happens to some of the characters.
Catch “The Valet” now streaming on Hulu.
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