Temp
workers just don’t work out in the movies. Remember Lara Flynn Boyle in The Temp or Ali Larter in Obsessed? Don’t feel bad if the answer
is “no.” This is sort of the classy version of those films, except
sixty-something Marie-France Ducret is more interested in inappropriately grandmothering
her boss’s young son than any sort of romantic relationship in Christophe Ali
& Nicolas Bonilauri’s The Assistant (trailer here), which releases today on DVD.
While
rushing his pregnant wife Audrey to the hospital, Thomas Lemans accidentally
mowed down Ducret’s twentysomething son. Nine years later, she still holds a
grudge. The accident took a toll on the separated Lemanses’ marriage, but he
clearly wriggled out of a prosecution. In the meantime, Ducret built up a
resume of short-term work at architecture firms, making her the perfect temp candidate
when Lemans’ assistant has her own accident. Actually, he uses the term “secretary,”
because he is an entitled jerk.
Naturally,
Ducret starts worming her way into Lemans’ life, proving just how helpful she
can be, especially when it comes to whiny nine-year-old Leo. She sets off all Audrey
(still Lemans)’s alarm bells, but frankly Thomas could use the help. He is
prepared to deal with her indefinitely when she eventually marries his father
Eric, but she will be an unhealthy influence on the whole family.
You
could think of The Assistant as the
mirror image of Frédéric Mermoud’s Moka,
in which Nathalie Baye played the suspected hit-and-run driver stalked by
Emmanuelle Devos’s avenging mother. This time she is the aggrieved hunter, but
both films clearly share a Hitchcockian influence. You can also see a touch of
an influence of Fatal Attraction and
other 1980s and ‘90s dark relationship thrillers.
Baye
is terrific as Ducret. As ruthless and cold-blooded as she gets, she still
maintains a degree of audience sympathy. All things considered, Malik Zidi
keeps up with her quite well, even though poor Lemans is decidedly slow on the
uptake. Seriously, if you plow down an innocent pedestrian, at least have the
decency to learn his name. Plus, seasoned vet Johan Leysen really helps hold it
all together as Lemans’ craggy but sensitive father.
