Les apprentis

How often does a comedy film actually make you laugh out loud? There were several occasions when this one had me roaring. It's the story of two young men squatting in a Paris apartment and scraping a living of sorts. This is Frenchmen Behaving Badly.

Antione (Francois Cluzot) is the nervy hypochondriac with literary pretensions. His physical resemblance to Dustin Hoffman is remarkable, and he exhibits the same quirky neurotic intensity.

Fred is played by Guillaume Depardieu, son of Gerard. Whereas Antoine has bouts of self-loathing over this down-and-out existence, Fred is the genuine article. He lies and steals as easily as breathing, and he has refined laziness into an art form.

The relationship of the two men is the wellspring of much of the humour, and the pairing works splendidly. Their bitter-sweet partnership is both funny and touching. Their high point, the relief and elation after the burglary, is embodied in their early morning walk through the food market, the symbolic return of colour and prosperity to their lives. When the downturn comes, Fred proves himself to be much more than a vacant layabout, and friendship ultimately triumphs over illness and despair.

The Paris of this film isn't the 'ville lumiere' of monuments and rive-gauche cafes. This is more 19th arondissement than 9th. Rather than designers' studios, these real, gritty streets are lined with carpet shops.

A nicely-observed comedy of human manners and foibles, "Les Apprentis" has liberal helpings of warmth and charm, and its greatest blessing is, it's very funny.