An odd French buddy comedy

The Villa (M, 97 mins) Directed by Thomas Gilou Reviewed by James Croot ★★★ 1⁄

2 In French with English subtitles

Depending on your sensibilities, this is either France’s answer to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or a buddy comedy in the vein of The Intouchables.

Feckless supermarketworker Milann Rousseau (Kev Adams) has found himself deep in debt with a group of local thugs who have given him aweek to come up with €3500.

Things go from bad to worse when an argument with an old woman over her use of coins and expired coupons to pay her grocery bill rapidly escalates, ending when the ceiling collapses on her.

The result is the termination of his employment and charges of vandalism and attempted murder.

However, instead of a jail term, he is sentenced to 300 hours of community service at a nursing home.

‘‘No smoking, no phones, no getting too close, no abusing old people,’’ are the rules.

But between sly Claudine (Marthe Villalonga), depressed Edmond (Jean-Luc Bideau), big-mouthed Sylvette (Liliane Rovere) and blind Leontine (Marianne Garcia), Milann is sure the residents have got it in for him from the outset, as a series of suspicious ‘‘disasters’’ unfolds.

Then there’s the taciturn former boxing champ Lino Varan (a magnificently understated Gerard Depardieu) who initially refuses to even interact with this interloper.

As Milann joins in on their conniving, they warm to his ‘‘charms’’, revealing that they have not left the premises in more than two years. Will Milann expose the truth before his past catches up with him or his investigations are curtailed?

Veteran director Thomas Gilou’s tale follows a series of predictable beats; the delights of The Villa are in the details and characters. A sub-plot in which the residents conduct confessionals with ‘‘Alzheimer’s Alfred’’ (he won’t remember anything they tell him) has a delightful payoff, and a gag about aman with celebrity fantasies and the woman more than prepared to assume each role raises a smile each time it plays out.

The tonal switch between broad comedy and social commentary isn’t always smooth, and a lot of your enjoyment will rest on your tolerance for the wide-eyed shtick of Adams (The Spy Who Dumped Me).

The Villa is now screening in select cinemas.