E
mily in Paris has nothing on Call My Agent! Five years before Emily’s cartoonish dispatch of French work culture, Call My Agent! captured it in force – with champagne-fueled working lunches and unstable office politics – with a warmth and authenticity that only a French-made spectacle could have. Now the drama / comedy is back for a fourth and final series, with a different writer (Fanny Herreo who wrote the first three series said she was sold out, which has made some wonder if there is has drama worthy of the series behind its decision).
In the third episode of this series, a nasty young actress explains the concept of agents and the series. “They are there for the tough times,” she proclaims. “We’re just going for drinks.”
Call my agent! follows four agents who are handling the crisis in these difficult times, while navigating the clusterf * ck of their own office politics. In the first series, the founder of their agency died suddenly while on vacation in Brazil, putting his future in jeopardy. But what gives Call My Agent! the real panache is that every episode revolves around a famous real-life person, usually in a scrape. Highlights from previous series include the astonishing Monica Bellucci, unable to find a spectacular date, and Juliette Binoche scrambling her words in Cannes.
This is the first series with an international star making a cameo – Sigourney Weaver, who almost chokes on her orange blossom macaroons when she finds out that her love for the movie has come to Paris. to turn, is a man of a little more advanced. age than she would like.
However, this is not a simple, sneaky celebrity TV show. Although he laughs at the famous, he does so with respect, with a generous spirit that is never mean. Dominique Besnehard, who created it, has worked in French talent agencies for decades and the show is imbued with a love for the arts. There is a good dose of farce, in the French tradition (this series features Charlotte Gainsbourg in a complicated situation worthy of a Molière play in which she claims to have broken her leg while sliding on a banana peel to avoid telling an old friend that she doesn’t. I don’t want to be in her movie).
(
Sigourney Weaver in Call My Agent Series 4!
/ Christophe BRACHET – FTV / MONVOISIN PROD / MOTHER PROD)
What makes Call My Agent! Different from the celebrity snafu sitcom extras of Ricky Gervais, or W1A, is that all agents are excellent at their jobs. Seeing their offices, in central Paris, has a particular thrill right now, at a time when it feels like working from home for so long that time has lost all meaning. Despite the upbeat yellow sofas, working life is tough and one of the things that Call My Agent gives! its je ne sais quoi is you can never predict what the characters will do next.
Andréa (Camille Cottin, the star of the series, who plays Fleabag in the French version and was Hélène in Killing Eve) is under a particular strain, which leads to rants. She just had a baby with her girlfriend Colette (Ophelia Kolb) and struggles to navigate life as a working mom – there are some especially funny scenes in her daughter’s nursery, which they expect to see. that parents are involved. She prefers to help clients solve their own relationship problems rather than deal with her own. Cottin delivers a fantastic, nuanced and believable performance – and she perfected the chic, casual work wardrobe with enviable knits.
(
Andréa (Camille Cottin) and her partner Colette (Ophélia Kolb)
/ Christophe BRACHET – FTV / MONVOISIN PROD / MOTHER PROD)
Every office has an Andrea, who grits her teeth and gets along, and barely fewer offices have a Noémie, who went from boss Mathias’ assistant and mistress status to his girlfriend – if you think about all of that. sounds stereotypically French, you’re right, she even eats gargantuan croissants for breakfast. She wears her heart on her sleeve as she takes on more responsibility at work and meets Mathias’ friends, comparing herself to his gorgeous ex-wife Catherine (played by Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, or Sylvie in Emily in Paris). Mathias’ daughter, Camille, who has suffered for a long time, remained at the agency, always helping Andrea and above all remaining calm and charming in the face of total chaos.
Most of the new writers have kept the tone of the series and the characters. One criticism, however, is that there isn’t enough in this series of Arlette, the elder in the office played by 87-year-old Liliane Rovère with a literal pocket dog named in homage to French actor Jean Gabin .
Endings are tough but call my agent! quits while he’s early, following the showbiz rule of always leaving the audience wanting more. Having said that, I still hope for a return.
The four series of Call My Agent! are available on Netflix from January 21
–
