Would I Lie To You? review

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A down-on-his-luck gentile is mistaken for a Jew in Paris' garment district and finds his life transformed overnight in Thomas Gilou's spry farce. If this sounds like 2001's The Closet, in which Daniel Auteuil's put-upon corporate drone pretended to be gay, it's unintentional: Would I Lie To You? was made in 1997. Still, you can't help noticing similarities - - not least because star Richard Anconina seems to have half-inched Auteuil's hangdog expression.

It may have been a hit in its native country, but it remains a mystery why a 1997 comedy is only now receiving a UK release. Could it be a response to the alarming rise of racist and anti-Semitic incidents in France? If so, you wish that Gilou had challenged stereotypes, not just reinforced them: all the Jewish rag-traders Anconina meets are tight-fisted, angst-ridden neurotics brow-beaten by their domineering Yiddish mums.

It's good fun, though: the kind of film that Woody Allen would make if he were French and still funny.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

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