Seems like Bertrand Blier can't do Surreal unless he begins either in a train station (Buffet Froid) or else ON a train (Notre Histoire). You can't say he doesn't go to the top-of-the-line because here he not only features Alain Delon and Nathalie Baye but throws in Vincent Lindon, Jean Reno and most notably Jean-Pierre Darroussin.
This film is just about unclassifiable. What rubric do we put it under: melodrama, comedy, political satire, Pirandellian experiment?