Based on Gallienne's one-man theatre show, the film camps its way through flamenco-style dancing, a German spa, sexual near-misses and an English boarding school.

Every social group is reduced to the crudest clich.

Moving seamlessly between stage and screen enactments, Guillaume, who plays both himself and his neurotic, chain-smoking mum, concocts plenty of blackly comic moments.

Funny, thoughtful and bubbling over with feeling, the feature shines brightest and rings truest when its driving force is at his best -- which, thankfully, is most of its brief running time.