MERCI DOCTEUR REY aka DR REY
Year: 2002
USA: Regent Releasing
UK: Parasol Peccadillo Releasing
Cast: Dianne Wiest, Jane Birkin, Stanislas Merhar, Bulle Ogier, Karim Salah, Didier Flamand, Roschdy Zem, Nathalie Richard, Dan Herzberg, Jerry Hall, Simon Callow, Vanessa Redgrave, Vernon Dobtcheff
Director: Andrew Litvack
Countries: France / USA
USA & UK: 91 mins
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language, soft drug use & moderate sex references
USA Release Date: 17 September 2004 (Limited Release - Los Angeles and New York)
UK Release Date: 20 August 2004
Synopsis
Elisabeth Beaumont (Dianne Wiest) is a famous opera diva every bit as dramatic as the parts she plays. Her son Thomas (Stanislas Merhar) is with her in Paris as she prepares for the role of Turandot. But, in a bizarre complex of coincidence, Thomas finds himself hiding in a closet in a stranger's home where he witnesses a murder and robbery. Horrified, he flees the scene, but next day learns that the man who was killed was actually the father he had never known, and who Elisabeth had told him died when he was a boy.
Compelled to discover who the murderer was, Thomas embarks on a quest through the classifieds, cafes and boulevards of Paris. Elizabeth and her best friend Claude (Bullie Ogier) - who secretly carries a dictaphone everywhere - attempt their own hilarious rescue mission to save her missing son, whom they think has been kidnapped. Dressed in ball gowns and armed with a Kelly bag full of money, they take a taxi into the night.
Meanwhile Thomas walks in on Penelope (Jane Birkin), an actress whose analyst Dr Rey has just had a heart attack in the midst of a session. Penelope, who has made a career dubbing the films of Vanessa Redgrave into French after her own career was aborted due to her propensity to vomit over leading actresses, befriends Thomas, and the unlikely couple try to unravel the mystery of who murdered his father and why.
While Elisabeth tries to reconcile her relationship with her son, Claude tries to get her through the opening night of her new opera, and Penelope has to confront her fear of the diva.
All of this is made more complicated as the police suspect Elisabeth of masterminding her ex-husband's murder, while Thomas might have just fallen in love - with the murderer he has been trying to catch!
From the award-winning production team behind A ROOM WITH A VIEW and HOWARD'S END comes a hilariously amoral tale of lust, deception and twisted family values. MERCHANT IVORY's production of Andrew Litvack's directorial debut DR REY features a wealth of international acting talent. Two-time Academy Award winner Dianne Wiest (HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, PARENTHOOD, THE BIRDCAGE) stars alongside Stanislas Merhar (ADOLPHE, UN MONDE PRESQUE PAISIBLE), Jane Birkin (BLOW UP), Simon Callow (FOUR WEDDINGS & A FUNERAL), Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave (GIRL, INTERUPTED) and Jerry Hall (TOOTH) star in this irrepressibly French comedy.