My Best Friend review

French director Patrice Leconte is drawn to unusual pairings: Juliette Binoche’s governor’s wife and Emir Kusturica’s condemned prisoner in The Widow Of Saint-Pierre, or Jean Rochefort’s retired teacher and Johnny Hallyday’s bankrobber in The Man On The Train. Here, in this amusing Parisian buddy movie, he teams up an arrogant antiques dealer with a good-natured taxi driver. Wagered by his business associate Catherine (Julie Gayet), François (Daniel Auteil) must prove he possesses a titular “meilleur ami” by the end of the month to stop her winning an exceptionally valuable vase.

My Best Friend is at its best charting the callous François’ efforts to acquire a genuine friend. No-one will be surprised that Dany Boon’s cheerful Everyman cabbie proves the saviour, but the two leading men bring as much substance to their parts as they do genuine good humour. Worth flagging down.