The Other One's Mug (1979)
Martial Perrin is the president of a right-wing political party which is gearing itself up for a forthcoming election. When he learns that a notorious criminal named Kraus has escaped from prison, Perrin panics and goes into hiding. His deputy, Constant, hires Perrin’s cousin, Gilbert, an actor who is a perfect double of Perrin, to replace him. What Gilbert does no know is that the killer Kraus is bumping off the people who were implicated in the affair for which he was arrested, and that Perrin is next on his list.
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Good story, Not enough for a whole film
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Poiret and Serrault were a comic team whose best movie has remained overlooked : "Assassins Et Voleurs" is really a gem ,directed by Sacha Guitry whose shadow hangs on this one,made by Pierre Tchernia ,a TV host who made a handful of films ;the screenplay was written by Poiret and whilst it's occasionally funny ,it's sometimes heavy-handed .Satire may be Poiret's wish ,but it's Guitry's reality.The trick of the double was also treated by the latter ("La Vie D'Un Honnête Homme" ),but Serrault's performance does not compare favorably with Michel Simon's .Half of the movies is pretty mediocre stuff: a gangster story, an absolutely infuriating scene of S/M ,complete with leather and boots,Curd Jurgens-guest star whose part is pointless- and his minion breaking into an unbearable version of the German carol "O Tannenbaum "(o christmas tree) ,and other filler.Consequently,the real meat here lies in the "political" scenes which seem her almost prophetic;the face-to-face TV debate partly saves the movie , a marvelously precise politicians' waffle parody;the name of the hero's party is also a good oxymoron " Les Conservateurs Independants Progressistes " ( = independent progressive conservatives !);the politician involved in shady affairs with bad company is in 2018 perhaps more relevant than ever.....Too bad Poiret did not concentrate on the political issues :we would have had a really good comedy :he has only half done the work.