emotional breakdown. Eventually, Pignon's ruse is discovered when Kopel catches him making love in the office to his co-worker, Mlle Bertrand. However, he has become so assertive that he keeps his job, relates to his son, patches up his relationship with Santini, cheers up Belone, and lives happily ever after. Cast Daniel Auteuil as François Pignon Gérard Depardieu as Félix Santini Thierry Lhermitte as Guillaume Michel Aumont as Jean-Pierre Belone Michèle Laroque as Mademoiselle Bertrand Jean Rochefort as Kopel Laurent Gamelon as Alba Alexandra Vandernoot as Christine Michèle Garcia as Madame Santini Edgar Givry as Mathieu Armelle Deutsch as Ariane Vincent Moscato as Ponce Thierry Ashanti as Victor Stanislas Crevillén as Franck Production Exteriors were filmed in Chaville, Clamart, Suresnes, and central Paris. Interiors were shot in Studios Éclair in Epinay-sur-Seine. Release The film was first released in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. Later the film was shown at the L'Alliance Française French Film Festival in Australia, the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the Newport International Film Festival, and the Seattle International Film Festival, and went into limited release in the US. Reception Critical reception The Closet holds a 85% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 80 reviews. Stephen Holden of the New York Times called it "giddy social comedy" and "a classic French farce" and added, "What's so liberating about The Closet is its refusal to walk on politically correct eggshells. The target of its blunt lusty humor is as much exaggerated political correctness and the panic it can engender as it is bigotry." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said, "The movie passes the time pleasantly and has a few good laughs ... But the screenplay relies too much on the first level of its premise and doesn't push into unexpected places. Once we get the setup, we can more or less anticipate the sitcom payoff, and there aren't the kinds of surprises, reversals and explosions of slapstick that made La Cage Aux Folles so funny. In the rating system of the Michelin Guide, it's worth a look, but not a detour or a journey." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called the film "a bonbon spiked with mirth and malice" and noted, "Auteuil and Depardieu spar hilariously, and writer-director Francis Veber, following The Dinner Game, offers another delicious treat." Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly rated the film A−, calling it a "cagey, high gloss