As french as croissants aux amandes and so extravagantly theatrical that you can practically smell the greasepaint in the cinema, this small and goofy French comedy follows the struggles of a young teenager to come to terms with his sexual identity when everyone around him is doing his coming out for him.
It's a screen version of writer-director's 2008 successful autobiographical one-man stage show whose original title (which translates roughly as "Boys and Guillaume -- dinner's ready!") was his mother's nightly refrain throughout his childhood. She knew Guillaume was gay and took it in her stride, as did his blokey, sporty brothers (Dad wasn't impressed), so the question was settled before he got to make a decision about it. His job is to come out as straight.
Moving seamlessly between stage and screen enactments, Guillaume, who plays both himself and his neurotic, chain-smoking mum, concocts plenty of blackly comic moments: a sequence in a spa in which Diane Kruger administers colonic irrigation is a cracker.
The actor, who may remind audiences of Chris Lilley's Ja'mie in Summer Heights High, has a boundless and infectious energy and a sure feel for how to make the switch between comedy and pathos. It's a slight confection that may appeal less to anglophone audiences than it did at home but if you watch and listen carefully, you will be amazed at the French equivalent of the good-luck phrase "break a leg" that actors use.
Cast: Guillaume Gallienne, Andre Marcon, Francoise Fabian, Diane Kruger
Director: Guillaume Gallienne
Running time: 87 mins
Rating: M (sex scenes, offensive language, nudity) In English and French with English subtitles
