His work has been linked to Latin American magic realism by its use of fantasy but is firmly rooted in Quebec's reality.

His unromanticized, even Rabelaisian, portraits of people on the fringe of society, especially in Bar Salon, Au clair de la lune, Une Historie inventée, Le Vent du Wyoming and The Countess of Baton Rouge,[1] blend observations of minutia of everyday life with elements of fantasy and imaginary.

His wife, Linda Pinet, has been co-producer and co-writer of many of his films.

[5] Pinet was solely a producer, not a co-writer, of his 2024 film Ababooned (Ababouiné), although the couple's sons, François Pinet-Forcier and Renaud Pinet-Forcier, were co-writers.

In 2003, he won the prix Albert-Tessier for an outstanding career in Quebec cinema.