challenges him to produce his friend. This sends Francois scurrying around Paris in search of someone who likes him. Sadly, he finds not a single soul willing to admit that they are his friend, except for a jovial, trivia spouting cab driver named Bruno (Danny Boon) that he keeps running into. Unbelievably, Bruno genuinely likes Francois, and goes out of his way to help him. Finally, Francois concocts a scheme to get Bruno to steel a priceless vase from his own apartment so that he can collect the insurance. Bruno agrees and sneaks into Francois' apartment, where he finds all of Francois' acquaintances waiting in the dark. Francois turns on the lights and introduces Bruno as such a true friend that he would even be willing to steal for him. When Bruno realizes that Francois was only using him, he smashes the vase and storms out. Francois has lost the bet. Later, Bruno wins a spot on the French version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. When a question about art comes up that Bruno doesn't know the answer to, he is faced with a dilemma. Should he guess and risk losing, or should he turn to Francois as his "lifeline"?
Think you know the answer? Don't bet on it. If this was an American movie, I could tell you without even seeing it exactly how the film would
end. Bruno would and Francois would make up, Bruno would win millions of dollars, and the two would retire to a tropical island together, surrounded by beautiful women, where they would live happily ever after. But French movies don't follow the same predictable patterns that American films invariably follow, and that's one of the reasons I love watching them. French filmmakers seem to understand that real life seldom has a true happily ever after to it. My Best Friend ends, as most French comedies do, on something of a bittersweet note. But, in my humble opinion, it's a richly satisfying one.
My Best Friend is rated PG-13 and is available in French with English subtitles.
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