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Closet, The

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Gay/Lesbian
Written by: Francis Veber
Directed by: Francis Veber
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 29, 2001
DVD: November 13, 2001
Running Time: 84 minutes, Color
Origin: France
Language(s): French (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: R for a scene of sexuality
Starring Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte, Michèle Laroque, and Michel Aumont
A hilarious story of how one little rumor not only brightens a simple man's life, but also triggers an awakening of everyone around him. (Miramax Films)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Dinner Game The Valet
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
Neither a "gay" movie nor a straight one; it is simply a funny one.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
The French originals are always much breezier, the characters more genuine and the actors subtler even if the situations are just as silly.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
The movie's steady good humor and respect for character is pleasing - even energizing.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
It is aided both by fine performances by Auteuil, Aumont and Depardieu and by wonderful pacing.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) M.V. Moorhead
The director is in fine form with The Closet, an expertly acted divertissement that may well be headed for a Yank incarnation within the next few years.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
Funny? This one is. It's also sweet and thoughtful.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
More sweet than savage, this amiable farce creates laughs with old-pro efficiency.
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Auteuil and Depardieu spar hilariously, and writer-director Francis Veber, following "The Dinner Game," offers another delicious treat.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Veber's giddy social comedy The Closet finds more delicious, chortling fun in the spectacle of obsequious hypocrisy than any movie I've seen in ages.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
An expertly developed farce that's very funny and surprisingly affecting in the bargain.
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Hilarious French farce.
USA Today Mike Clark
This is economy of style that Americans get only in Woody Allen movies -- and even that's not a guarantee.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan
It's a bright and breezy piece, and a refreshing alternative to the gross-out Hollywood comedies.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Auteuil does an excellent job. He's like Marcello Mastroianni, whose naturalness also deluded people into thinking for a while that he wasn't a versatile actor.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
A farce nearly as cracked as his previous "The Dinner Game."
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Perhaps not the most uproarious of Veber's farces, but entertaining and emotionally satisfying all the same.
LA Weekly Holly Willis
Auteuil is as charming as ever, with a surprising aptitude for physical humor that keeps the tone cheerfully light and the laughs plentiful.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune John Petrakis
By the end we are left with a mildly amusing comedy and the lingering memory of a sterling cast that deserved better material.
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Passes the time pleasantly and has a few good laughs.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times John Anderson
Veber, also responsible for "The Dinner Game," apparently has a finger on the pulse of French audiences and Gallic-minded Americans, but there's just not a lot of freshness in this Closet.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Dennis Lim
Tumbles happily into every pitfall that lines its well-trodden path.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
It's amusing more often than it isn't, largely because the cast is so nonchalant and, well, French about everything.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
It doesn't have the bite to be satire, the pratfalls to be broad comedy, or the wit to pass as a comedy of manners. What does that leave? The French cinematic equivalent of motivational coaching, and -- just like Pignon -- something spectacularly unspectacular.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
Has a blithe tone and a capable cast, but Veber's script is 100 percent laugh-free.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Phyllis F. gave it an 8:
Full of social issues, affirmative action, sexual harrassment, rules in the workplace, bigotry, also deals with perception and latent homosexuality. I lead a movie group and expect to have great discussions.
James K. gave it a 9:
Excellent---well-done. We laughed out loud many times. Good story, and well-written, and acted.
Esther W. gave it a 9:
A minor classic! One of the year's best films, and certainly the funniest. Don't miss it.
