We've all been to the theatre and wondered what we were doing there? Rarely, though, have any of us stood up to complain about the lacklustre performance directly to those on the stage. Well "Yannick" (Raphaël Quenard) does precisely that moaning that he's taken a day off work and spent his time and money on their presentation of "Le Cocu" that's not exactly enthralling him. Initially the talent engage, then they send him packing. Undeterred, he returns shortly afterwards with a gun, demands a laptop, a printer and devises a script for them to improve on their efforts. Yes, it's all fairly far-fetched and for a while I wasn't sure whether "Yannick" was actually the fourth cast member of the ensemble in to shake things up a bit. Certainly, the theatre goers never look very intimidated by their "captor". It is that ambiguity and an entertaining Quenard rendition that makes this quite a quirky watch that though it goes on too long, is actually at times quite an innovate piece of characterful cinema-cum-theatre that has just enough of the plausible about it to make it funny sometimes. It runs out of steam completely at the end, but the first forty minutes or so are original and worth a watch.

This is the director's most linear film, if not his clearest. We know that Quentin Dupieux often, if not almost always, talks about film, the work of art, the way it is made, the impression it makes on the viewer. Here, he questions what a work of art is, and the viewer's relationship to it. Raphaël Quenard watches a play of relatively poor quality as a spectator, and decides to modify and rewrite it. By playing a character we understand to be rather depressed, or more simply not well at all.

The staging is simple and limpid, to highlight the dialogues: both those of the play, and those of Raphaël Quenard's character. A great deal of work has gone into this aspect.

So we're not dealing here with a process that might seem absurd, as in many of the director's films. But in a way, it's a film that explains how to approach all Quentin Dupieux's previous films. Isn't Raphaël Quenard's character Quentin Dupieux? Questioning films and what they're supposed to bring to the viewer. He could stop now and we'd understand all his work.

It's surprising to see the police arrive at the end. This anchors the film in a reality to which Quentin Dupieux has not accustomed us. It's a way of making Raphaël Quenard's observation real.