A clever variation on the body swap genre, French comedy Me Two is a delightful fantasy about two very different guys who end up inhabiting the one body.
Marking the feature debut by TV writers/directors Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine, the film is buoyed by its neat conceit and classy performances from veterans Daniel Auteuil and Alain Chabat. It’s a fresh spin on movies like Carl Reiner’s 1984 caper All of Me, where Steve Martin’s body was invaded by the soul of Lily Tomlin.
Auteuil plays Jean-Christian Ranu, a bespectacled, mousy, low-ranking executive for a global investment bank, who lives alone in a shabby apartment overlooking a freeway. Chabat is Gilles Gabriel, a brash, aging pop singer who had a one-hit wonder in the 1980s with an appallingly-cheesy song entitled Hazy For You (sample lyric: 'I was the minus, you were the plus.")
Their paths collide- literally — when Jean-Christian steps in front of Gilles’ car, causing an accident which results in Gilles’ spirit rising from his unconscious body and entering his victim. Hearing voices, Ranu rushes to the doctor, who can only hear him, and he soon realizes who the voice belongs to.
Much of the humour ensues from Ranu’s discomfort with his alter ego, shielding his eyes so Gilles can’t watch while he’s relieving himself and refusing to satisfy the latter’s urge to smoke. Gradually the odd couple learns to live with each other as Ranu sees an upside, 'Two are a lot less lonely."
Gilles plans to make a comeback by getting Ranu to write songs for him while offering his friend coaching in how to win over his gorgeous, ball-busting boss Muriel (Marina Fois), who threatens to post him to Bucharest if he doesn’t lift his game, and to prepare for a presentation for the company’s bosses.
The plot is wafer thin and it’s all extremely silly, but warm-hearted and eminently watchable thanks to the bi-play between the two old pros and a gag-filled screenplay.
