Janis and John /
Janis et John (R)

by Samuel Benchetrit

A bold, vibrant, riotously funny comedy, Janis et John has a lively, stylishly rendered sensibility, marking a confident screen debut by co-scripter/ director Samuel Benchetrit.

Things are looking bad for Pablo Sterni (Sergi Lopez), insurance company employee, respectable father and husband, and small-time embezzler. For months he's been conning his client Mr. Cannon (Jean-Louis Trintignant), 'handling' a non-existent policy on Cannon's virtually undriven Aston Martin and pocketing the payments. Now the car has been wrecked, and Pablo owes 100,000 Euros. He's got two weeks to come up with the cash. If he fails, he'll lose everything.

Pushed to the limits, Pablo finds a desperate solution: the fortune recently left to his cousin Léon (Christophe Lambert), tragic 70's-casualty and obsessive fan of John Lennon and Janis Joplin. If only Pablo can convince Léon that his idols have returned from the dead and need money - his money - to record a new song that will bring about world peace...

Pablo recruits Walter (François Cluzet), a neurotic failed actor, and his own wife, Brigitte, to play Joplin and Lennon. But before Pablo can profit from the situation, he begins to lose control of his 'creations'...

This genuinely funny and exquisitely cast ode to rock'n'roll, drugs, larceny, loneliness and love evokes the suburban kitsch visuals of American Beauty and the surreal universe of Being John Malkovich - Janis et John  is a genuine crowd-pleaser.

France- 2003- Comedy - 105 min -French with English subtitles
Director: Samuel Benchetrit
Script: Samuel Benchetrit
With: François Cluzet, Marie Trintignant, Christophe Lambert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Sergi Lopez, Amparo Soler Leal