Director Patrice Leconte’s strength is in the pairing of seemingly random individuals (a bank robber and a teacher in The Man On the Train; a knife-thrower and a suicidal young girl in The Girl On the Bridge), and his latest entry is no exception. In My Best Friend, Daniel Auteuil is François, an arrogant businessman who is challenged by his business partner to prove he has a best friend. François finds much to his chagrin and surprise that he has no friends at all. Enter sociable taxi driver Bruno (Dany Boon), whom François enlists to help him find a friend. Needless to say, the unlikely pair hit it off themselves. Heartwarming in a way that male buddy movies rarely pull off, My Best Friend will appeal to both men and women alike.

Shelf Talk: In addition to being one of France’s most popular actors, Auteuil also is one of the most hard working—the last 10 years have seen him star in some two dozen films, including The Closet, N, Caché, The Girl On the Bridge and, most recently, The Valet, all of which have made some noise upon their DVD release in the U.S. It’s even fair to assume he’s recognized by those who don’t regularly watch foreign-language films. My Best Friend has grossed more than $1 million at the domestic box office, which is no small feat, and it received some solid reviews.