Tais Toi! Review

Quentin, Gerard Depardieu, isn't quite the full quid. To be brutal, he's thick as a brick. When he robs a currency exchange, and all he can get from the cashier is yen, he just doesn't know what to do. But, to give him his due, he's a very friendly guy, and he acts a bit like a sloppy dog who's all over you whether you want him or not. He also likes to talk and, one way or another, he drives people mad - especially Ruby, Jean Reno, a hardened criminal and killer whose prison cell Quentin shares. Quentin talks and talks and talks (the film's French title means "Shut Up!"), while Ruby just glowers, and a one-sided friendship blossoms. Quentin even helps Ruby escape from prison, even though Ruby's own plans for a breakout are ruined in the process. Francis Veber's new comedy takes the odd couple premise to the max, and the result is a frequently funny farce given substance by the strong performances of the two leads. We've seen Jean Reno's stoic bad guy before, but Depardieu's simple-minded chatterbox is something new, and the actor is terrific in the role. Many scenes are hilarious but the film runs out of gas at about the time a pretty Albanian refugee enters the picture. Nevertheless, lovers of this kind of comedy should have a great time.