Director: James Huth
Starring: Gad Elmaleh, Sophie Marceau, and Francois Berleand.
Distributor: Madman Entertainment
Runtime: 105 mins. Reviewed in Jun 2013

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Rating notes: Sex scenes and coarse language

This sub-titled French romantic comedy is about the improbable attraction between Sacha, a young, pleasure-seeking man, and Charlotte, an older woman. They meet one day, almost by chance.

Sacha (Gad Elmaleh) is a talented Jewish jazz pianist and composer, who seduces young women, especially those who admire his virtuoso piano skills. He has no responsibilities, has avoided marriage, and lives for the moment. One wet afternoon, on a professional assignment, he meets a career woman, Charlotte (Sophie Marceau), who has three demanding children from two different fathers and they are instantly attracted to each other. Charlotte manages a Parisian foundation that organises contemporary art shows for visual artists, and her ex-husband (Francois Berleand) is using his wealth and power to try to get her back.

The chemistry is alive and well between the two main leads, who deliver immensely likeable performances. The movie bases its core appeal on the fact that Charlotte and Sacha have virtually nothing in common. Gender, past history, and class tensions divide them. He is working class, and she is high society. Sacha has avoided commitments, and Charlotte has had too many of them. Until they meet, neither is looking for permanent commitment.

The two leads create farcical situations which they handle deftly, and both show excellent comic timing in extracting humour from their routines. Sacha hates children (until he succumbs wisely to their charms) and he shows his comic skill especially, when Charlotte’s children start complicating his life. Charlotte is accident-prone, and she uses her clumsiness skilfully. Their initial contact, for example, gets off to a shaky start when she falls flat on her face in the rain, just before a passing car drenches her, following which Sacha tries to catch his car keys that accidentally hit her in the face. Split second timing, excellent acting, and good direction are required for comic effect, and they all combine very well.

In the role of Sacha, Elmaleh nicely plays the role of a male who thinks initially that pleasure is all-important to him, and someone, who underneath it all, is wanting more meaningful attachment and is sick of his life being “like a metronome”. Marceau makes the role of mother and professional career-woman look easy, despite her clumsiness and past failures in ensuring that her relationships endure. Both prove themselves expert in physical comedy. Marceau, in particular, is almost Chaplain-like in coping with her “accidents”.

Ultimately, the movie comes down positively on family values, but there are lessons the film seems to be preaching before its end about the attractions of the hedonistic life style Sacha might have to give up. As the film comes to its conclusion, however, its core message is that true commitment requires facing responsibilities, and the final resolution of the movie is a moral one, despite the fact that things that are immoral have occurred in the past.

This is a good French comedy that arouses genuine laughter and lots of understanding, but it lacks dramatic sharpness in the way it explores the problems associated with relationships, particularly new ones, that might not endure. On the production side it uses warm, deep colours to heighten effectively the tone of romance, and intelligently uses a good jazz sound-track to reinforce its lure.

The movie never drifts too far away from the impact of immediate physical attraction, and it avoids themes that are overly-dramatic. However, there is an undeniable charm to the film, and it skilfully communicates its appeal in a highly entertaining way.