Mr. Blake, At Your Service! (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review)

PopEntertainment
Jun 19
3 min read

MR. BLAKE, AT YOUR SERVICE! (2023)

Starring John Malkovich, Fanny Ardant, Émilie Dequenne, Philippe Bas, Eugénie Anselin, Al Ginter, Anne Brionne, Christel Henon, Konstantin Rommelfangen, Hugo Malpeyre, Philippe Meyrer, Stephanie Clemente Jodar, Océane Lannoy, Guillaume Legardinier, Dimitri Dequiedt, Marcus and Novehka The Cat.

Screenplay by Christel Henon and Gilles Legardinier.

Directed by Gilles Legardinier.

Distributed by Universal Pictures. 100 minutes. Not Rated.

It’s always interesting when English-speaking actors do films entirely in a language that is foreign to their normal work. For example, like Jodie Foster did A Very Long Engagement in French, or Kevin Kline (and Jennifer Beals) speaking French in Queen to Play. Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz spoke Spanish in Everybody Knows. Diane Kruger worked in German in In the Fade. (Kruger has actually made several films in French and in German over the years.)

John Malkovich joins the club here, speaking mostly fluent French, with a little English mixed in now and then. He plays a British businessman who visits the castle in France where he had met his late wife, and through a series of wacky misunderstandings he becomes the butler of the estate.

And yes, the whole butler idea sounds like something out of a bad sitcom, but Mr. Blake at Your Service actually manages the slightly hackneyed concept with a great deal of tact and heart.

While, yes, Mr. Blake is mistaken for a potential butler, he decides to stay for two reasons. First, he is burnt out from his business, and he just wants to wallow in his memories of his late wife. The estate is not renting rooms currently because it needs a good amount of repairing (more about that later…), so the only way he can stay is as one of the small staff. Also, he is tired of being the boss and likes the idea of disappearing into another life.

This opportunity is offered to him by Odile (Émilie Dequenne), the maid/cook who appears rather stern and antisocial, but who eventually turns out to be much more insecure and friendly than you would assume. The handyman Magnier (Philippe Bas) seems to be a tough guy, but he turns out to be also insecure about his position in the house, and he also has a serious crush on Odile. Then there is the other maid Manon (Eugénie Anselin) who is hiding the fact that she is pregnant as she pines for her ex-boyfriend.

Even the estate’s cat Mephisto turns out to be very different than the staff assumed.

In the meantime the owner of the house, Nathalie (Fanny Ardant) is having trouble affording the upkeep of the estate because she is now living without the help of her late husband and she is having trouble keeping up with the huge home, both physically and financially. They all want to reopen the place for tourists as a hotel / bed and breakfast, but it is a bit out of Nathalie’s budget.

In a nice touch – a smart, European touch – even though Mr. Blake and homeowner Nathalie seem to feel a bit of a connection, maybe even a bit of attraction to the other, they do not really act on it. Both are still in mourning, and it is too fresh, it would still feel unfaithful. Maybe down the line they will get together, but for now they are content to share time with a similarly grieving person of their own generation. An American film would probably lead them into bed, but the anticipation of a potential future relationship here is much more intriguing and pleasing than if they just fell into bed with each other.

Mr. Blake, At Your Service! turns out to be a terrific surprise; a sweet, charming, heartfelt and funny look at some outcasts who find themselves through the people around them and the home that they all love.

Jay S. Jacobs