Though often cast as a heavy (2 Days in Paris, District B13), plus-size Ludovic Berthillot is persuasive here as a sweet but naive gay man stuck in a midlife crisis. Weary of cruising and unable to perform in bed (or on the job), he wonders how hard it might be to settle down with a woman. He gets his chance when, aided by powerful woodland aphrodisiacs, he romances a headstrong 16-year-old girl, but soon he’s on the run from both the law and an ardent elderly lothario of legendary endowment. Set in the scenic Midi-Pyrenees region of southwest France, this sublimely daffy sex farce (2009) presents a warm if cockeyed vision of the region as a pansexual playground. Alain Guiraudie directed. In French with subtitles.
The King of Escape
NR • 1 hour 33 min • 2009