Imagine if the French grabbed back the concept of Allo Allo, cast it with the likes of Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani and speeded it up.

You hardly get pause for breath in Jean-Paul "Cyrano de Bergerac" Rappeneau's bustling comedy set in the early days of World War II.

The Germans are sweeping across France and the Gallic great and good have hot-footed down to the south-west coast to regroup and figure out what to do.

Exiled goverment minister Depardieu, displaying New Labour levels of smarm, is infatuated with feckless actress Isabelle Adjani.

She's on the run after shooting dead a lecherous suitor back in Paris while Gregori Derangere - who has the look of a bemused younger Michael Palin - is in pursuit after taking the rap for the crime.

The other crouton in the bouillabaise is a Jewish professor fleeing the Nazis with a load of heavy water used in the making of an atom bomb.

Journalist Peter Coyote - who is also a German spy - is determined to claim it for the Fuhrer...but hasn't bargained on the professor's resourceful assistant Virginie Ledoyen.

There's an awful lot of slapstick to-ing and fro-ing with petty intrigues and grand scams thrown into the mix as high society rubs shoulders with the hoi polloi at the Hotel Splendide.

Unfortunately, for every perfectly executed farcical setpiece there's a self-consciously madcap plot diversion that merely serves to irritate.

Derangere steers clear of parody as the lovelorn innocent forced between the sensible Ledoyan and the vague Adjani.

However, other sub-plots aren't resolved so neatly with Rappeneau apparently happy to let them trail off.

He's particularly strong on period detail and the beautifully executed crowd scenes are a joy to watch.

If you like your farce fast and furious this could be one bon voyage worth making.

Tim Evans