Screenwriter and novelist Joseph Kaufman Max von Sydow) has made his mark, earned gobs of money in his day, and won an Oscar for his troubles. Now he's a lot older, and all he wants to do is sit around and vegetate - and if he were anyone else, he'd probably be allowed to. However, he has a lifestyle that requires that he continue to manufacture "product," and he has an advance for a novel that he's spent without writing a word. His lovely mansion is likely to be taken by French authorities for back taxes, if he can't rouse himself to start typing. However, in this comedy, it will take the combined full-time efforts of his agent (Martin Landau), his wife (Charlotte Rampling), and a young admirer and fellow writer (Francois Montagut) to rouse him from his lethargy, and it's not at all clear that they will succeed in doing so.
by Clarke Fountain
synopsis
