Reviewed - Cockles and Muscles/Crustaces et Coquillages: The traditional French farce gets a modern liberal updating to embrace a variety of sexual preferences - straight, gay, bisexual and adulterous - in this whimsical romp that is as contrived as its punning English-language title.
The original French title, Crustacés et Coquillages, cues the celebration of shellfish as aphrodisiacs, a running gag in the movie, which was released in the US under yet another name, the more seductive Cote d'Azur.
That title is taken from the film's location, a village on the French Riviera where Marc (Gilbert Melki) spent his holidays when he was younger. He returns for a summer vacation with his wife Béatrix (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi); their daughter, who promptly takes off with her boyfriend; and their 17-year-old son Charly (Romain Torres), who is joined by his openly gay school friend, Martin (Édouard Collin).
Béatrix suspects that Charly, too, is gay and having an affair with Martin. She has no qualms about this, whereas her husband has conflicted feelings on the subject. There are, as is de rigueur for a farce, further complications: the arrival of Béatrix's secret lover (Jacques Bonnaffé), who has a disconcerting habit of leaping naked from bushes; and a local man, a gay plumber (Jean-Marc Barr) who meets one of the boys in a cruising area.
The agreeable performances help to invigorate what's essentially a souffle, a light and slight concoction that's served up with breezy insouciance. The actors also gamely participate in a couple of cringe-inducing musical numbers. These are apparently intended as a homage to the movies of Jacques Demy but would fit more comfortably in one of those interminable variety shows that are inexplicably popular staples on French television.
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