Long-serving accountant Francois Pignon has the look of a vexed Alan Titchmarsh... as well he might - he's just about to get the sack.

Francois (Daniel Auteuil) isn't getting the bullet for inefficiency. He's not even getting his cards for financial impropriety. He's being fired because his bosses at the condom factory think he's, well, tedious.

Having met Francois you can't really disagree with them; his wife has left him, his son despises him and even his work colleagues shunt him out of the company photo.

After attempting suicide (then losing his nerve), amiable new neighbour and corporate psychologist Belone (Michel Aumont) advises Francois to pretend he's gay.

And there's the rub. Director Francis Verber launches a light but droll attack on how political correctness has coursed into the mainstream of big business.

Once some compromising (but doctored) photographs of Francois being manhandled in a gay club are sent to the company, the bosses realise they would be open to charges of homophobia if they fired him.

Everybody is terrified of saying the wrong thing and the most likely contender is macho personnel manager Felix Santini (Gerard Depardieu). Meanwhile, Francois doesn't actually act any differently. Instead, he remains the same quiet, little man he has been all his life.

However, everybody's perception of him has changed. Apparently, Francois is not who they thought he was and this realisation makes him more mysterious... but it also increases the likelihood of misunderstanding.

Verber's comedy may be a light confection... but it packs a satirical punch at both a management culture terrified of non-PC allegations, and the company bullies whose chief weapon is humiliation.

Auteuil is one of those everyman actors who never appears to be trying too hard so natural is his comedy performance. But Depardieu steals the show as the rugby-playing 'human resources' supremo forced to over-compensate his anti-gay tendencies... even if it means buying Francois a pink sweater.

Tim Evans