Call My Agent! The Movie reignites that irresistible ensemble chemistry in return to celebrity farce

There’s a lot of mileage in celebrities making fun of themselves, even when they’re French stars, some of whom you only have a passing knowledge of.

Obviously when it’s Isabelle Huppert, Jean Dujardin or Monica Bellucci, you know who they are, but the genius of Call My Agent (French title: Dix Pour Cent) is that you don’t have to know all of Virginie Efira’s work (although you should because she’s wonderful) to still delight in her acting the fool.

The French series ran for four seasons in the 2010s and quickly became a favourite around the world for its satirising of fame culture through the framework of a talent agency charged with fulfilling every whim of its celebrity roster.

The format was ripe for adaptation, and soon there were versions in Poland, South Korea, Indonesia, Turkiye, Czechia, India, Germany and the UK.

It works because, of course, we want to see Huppert as a workaholic whose competing schedule causes a headache and an eventual lawsuit, Juliette Binoche ripping her Cannes gown, and Dujardin taking method acting too far when he refuses to shower weeks after his film has wrapped.

Through it all are the agents of ASK, who are always frantically trying to sort out their clients’ problems while allowing those of their own to pile up.

There’s Andrea (Camille Cottin), the hard-arsed agent who thinks she doesn’t need to form attachments, Mathias (Thibault de Montalembert), the veteran with two secrets – unacknowledged daughter Camille (Fanny Sidney), and his mistress and assistant Noemie (Laure Calamy).

They’re joined by agents Gabriel (Gregory Montel) and Arlette (Liliane Rovere), ambitious assistant Herve (Nicolas Maury), aspiring actor and receptionist Sofia (Stefi Celma) and ASK owner Hicham (Assaad Bouab).

At the end of the show’s original run (spoiler alert), ASK had disbanded and the final shot was of the team walking out of, boxes under their arms and bittersweet expressions on their faces.

It seemed conclusive, but if anyone knows that an end doesn’t have to be an end in showbusiness, it’s the characters of Call My Agent.

So now, six years later, the show has returned with a sequel movie, which starts with everyone cast off in different directions.

Andrea has changed careers and is about to direct her first feature film with Laetitia Casta, playing a fugitive who contends with a wild boar and then falls for a helpful cop. As befitting any Call My Agent episode, obviously things go awry, very, very awry.

The story contrives to bring everyone back together – Noemie, who’s now a producer, is recruited to help the production, Mathias and Camille both have clients on the film, Herve has become an actor and Gabriel and Andrea has to mend fences after a rupture five years earlier.

There are hijinks involving a flash flood and a pitch meeting with George Clooney (playing himself as someone who makes the world’s worst olive oil and is still sensitive about the mixed reception to The Monuments Men), as well as the usual comedy that comes from managing stars.

The film doesn’t skip a beat from the original series and that should satisfy long-time fans. It’s every bit as absurd, and you do feel like you’ve dropped back into these people’s lives. Clearly, the cast hasn’t been able to quite let go out of their characters.

The irresistible chemistry among this ensemble is easily mixed, and Casta and Vincent Macaigne are really game at playing these exaggerated versions of themselves with an unresolved past.

Ultimately, there’s a warmth to Call My Agent, that for all of its sniping and even betrayals, it’s still about the family you choose. All families are dysfunctional sometimes, and the best ones find their way back to each other.

Call My Agent! The Movie is on Netflix, the original series is on SBS On Demand