Firstly, I saw this with English subtitles on the satellite French movie channel, Cinemoi.

I'm no reader of literature, let alone French, but I enjoy my movies and this one is a good period romp, with a robust and typically fruity performance by Gerard Depardieu as the womanising and gluttonous Alexandre Dumas. His counterpart, the 'other',is the bookish, bespectacled and rather shy Benoit Poelvoorde, as Auguste Macquet.

The film aims to redress literary history by stating that Dumas had a ghost writer, or 'help', in creating his masterpieces, such as The Three Musketeers. Apparently, this writer was indeed Macquet who was more a collaborator; the two bouncing ideas off each other. The story here, which apparently found no favours with the critics is rightly popularist, possibly stretched in its accuracy but always entertaining.

The period detail is fine, as is the pace but it does also have its more serious side, charting stormy waters between the pair over women, writing contracts and events leading up to the French Revolution.

There's some quite strong brief nudity and mild swearing and a little violence, which would suggest a cert 15. It's 105mins long and ably, if unremarkably directed by Safy Nebbou.

With Depardieu at the helm, it is surprising that 'Dumas' isn't more well known and released over here in the U.K., as a 'normal' DVD.