Cleaning Up

By RICHARD CORLISS

MAMA, THERE'S A MAN IN YOUR BED

Directed and Written by Coline Serreau

Forget the awful American title that defaces this effervescent French comedy. Mama, There's a Man in Your Bed suggests the species of snickering sex farce that runs forever in Parisian and West End theaters. Coline Serreau originally named the film after her two star-crossed lovers: Romuald and Juliette. That title is simply fine.

The plot is complexity itself. Romuald (Daniel Auteuil) runs a yogurt company. He is having an affair with his secretary. His wife is having an affair with his assistant. The assistant botches a vat of yogurt, triggering a rash of food poisoning. Two other colleagues of Romuald's frame their boss on an insider-trading charge, and soon Romuald is fired. If only he would listen to Juliette (Firmine Richard), the office cleaning woman, who has been uncovering scraps of the conspiracy while maintaining the bluff invisibility of the servant class. And if Romuald listens to this black Cassandra, he may see that she has more to offer than a plan to reclaim his job.

One of the pleasures Romuald and Juliette offers is this seductively devious plot: a doomsday version of everybody's office politics. Serreau also nicely blends corporate intrigue with romantic camaraderie. By film's end any skeptic will believe that natural combatants -- rich and poor, white and black, man and woman -- can be made gracious allies. It takes just a little goodwill and a very good film. R.C.