User:Ajmint/Being Homer Simpson

Being Homer Simpson is a French comedy-drama short film written and directed by Arnaud Demanche and released in 2013. The 20-minute film stars the married voice actors Philippe Peythieu and Véronique Augereau as themselves. They play Homer and Marge Simpson respectively in the French dub of the animated sitcom The Simpsons. The plot involves Peythieu only being able to speak in Homer's voice after a confrontation with Vincent (Arnaud Tsamere), an enraged fan. This causes problems with his marriage.

Plot
At a fan convention for the French version of The Simpsons in a Virgin Megastore, the voice actors Philippe Peythieu and Véronique Augereau—a married couple who play Homer and Marge Simpson—sign merchandise and take photographs with fans. They are interrupted by Vincent, who keeps telling Philippe to do Homer's voice when it is not his turn. He is asked to move by Philippe and becomes aggressive toward another fan, leading Véronique to attempt to calm him down. Véronique leaves, and after an argument, a Virgin employee ejects Vincent and the two fans. Philippe notices his cup of water vibrating, and sees Vincent staring menacingly at him from across the room, before breaking into a smile and waving.

In a bar after the signing, Vincent accosts Philippe, praising him further and trying to get him to say things in Homer's voice. Philippe refuses, saying he is tired, and Vincent accuses him of being a "diva". The barman tells Vincent to leave Philippe alone, and Philippe gets angry when Vincent slaps him on the back. Vincent is offended, saying he asked nicely. The barman attempts to remove Vincent, who then pushes Philippe to the ground and stands menacingly over him, making the entire bar shake. Philippe has a coughing fit, and Vincent tells him that he "won't have a choice" whether to do the voice. Vincent leaves, and the people in the bar who help him up notice that Philippe is talking in Homer's voice. Philippe discovers that he cannot talk otherwise, and runs outside, where he tells a police woman what happened to him and attempts to file a complaint for assault, but she does not believe him.

After a phone call to his wife, Philippe goes to his bank to discuss a loan of €450,000 for a new apartment. He annoys his banker by talking about his finances in Homer's voice, and fails to get the loan. He gets home, and explains to his wife what happened. She gets angry, and does not believe that he cannot stop doing Homer's voice. She explains how she is fed up with "living with cartoon characters", and they argue. Philippe's friend Patrick Poivey (the French voice of Bruce Willis) visits, imitating John McClane. This agitates Véronique, who leaves. Philippe is examined by a doctor, who says there are no external traces of strangling and likens this happening from a distance to "telekinesis". The doctor encourages him to try different things, and he consumes large amounts of honey and throat lozenges, as well as taking anti-inflamatories and inhalation treatment. His wife supports him as he recites tongue-twisters as a vocal exercise, and the two successfully file a complaint against his aggressor. He is shown dubbing a scene from the Simpsons episode "Replaceable You".

Philippe tells his doctor how he has not made much progress, and the doctor encourages him to find the "magician" who did this to him. Philippe remembers that Vincent left his coat at the bar, and goes to retrieve it from the barman. He finds Vincent's ID card in the pocket, and visits his address. Philippe demands that Vincent stop it, but Vincent refuses and introduces his son to Philippe. Vincent's son says that he is scared, that Philippe is not Homer, and that his father should tell him to speak normally and leave. Philippe is seen walking out of the building and along a bridge; he holds his cell phone to his ear.

At the end of the film, Vincent is shown at another convention, this time praising Christophe Lemoine, the French voice actor of South Park's Eric Cartman.

Cast

 * Philippe Peythieu as himself, the French voice actor of Homer Simpson and Véronique's husband.
 * Arnaud Tsamere as Vincent, an aggressive fan of Philippe who inflicts on him the inability to talk in his own voice.
 * Véronique Augereau as herself, the French voice actor of Marge Simpson and Philippe's wife.
 * Jean-Pierre Leroux as the doctor, who examines Philippe after his assault.
 * Vincent Grass as the barman.
 * Carole Brana as the police woman, who does not believe Philippe's assault complaint.
 * Nadia Roz as Julie, a fan at the signing.
 * Bérengère Krief as Catheline, a fan at the signing.
 * Gaudéric Grauby-Vermeil as the Virgin employee.
 * Arnaud Demanche as the banker.
 * Patrick Poivey as himself, Philippe's friend and the French voice of Bruce Willis.
 * Christian Dura as himself, the French adaptor of The Simpsons.
 * Christophe Lemoine as himself, the French voice of Eric Cartman.
 * Patrick Béthune as himself, Philippe's friend.

Background and production
The film's director and writer Arnaud Demanche—known for his Gérard series, which parodies the César Awards, celebrating the worst of French cinema, television and politics, and is broadcast on Paris Première—

Release
Being Homer Simpson was posted to the French video-sharing website Dailymotion on June 19, 2013, where it was viewed 300,000 times in three weeks.

On July 6, 2013, a "U.S. version" of the movie with English subtitles was posted to YouTube.