By Ron Wilkinson May 16, 2011, 22:16 GMT
Bland and predictable, but who cares? For the incurable Gallic romantic in all of us this is the film to see.
Cannes Film Festival award winner Jean-Pierre Améris (Youth French Film Award for “Les aveux de l'innocent” in 1996) teams up with seven-time Cesar nominee Isabelle Carré for a romantic romp amongst the romantically handicapped. Cannes award winner Benoît Poelvoorde plays chocolate factory owner Jean-Rene whose luck in love is as bad as his luck in business.
After generations of being the chocolate craved by the entire country, the factory is on the verge of bankruptcy. It would take a miracle to keep the venerable factory open and, as luck would have it, a miracle is knocking at the door.
The miracle is Angélique (Isabelle Carré) a young woman with a problem just like Jean-Rene’s, she is terribly shy. No, she is pathologically shy. She is so shy she ducks her head when she walks by a statue. Encouraged by her “Romantics Anonymous” group she strikes out for a job at the chocolate factory. After all, she is not only beautiful, but she is an expert chocolate maker.
She barely summons up the courage to ask for a job at the chocolate factory. Through an unexplained mistake Jean-Rene awards her the job as sales-woman when all she expected was to be one of the cooks.
From that point forward the movie bounces around from terribly cute cobble-stoned street to terribly cute café to international chocolate competition where Angelique wins first prize. The factory is saved but saving her herky-jerky relationship with jean-Rene will be much harder.
They are together, then apart, together, than a misunderstanding, then together, than confusion. Many new shirts, pratfalls and mistakes later they find out the truth they were looking for all along.
The best chocolate in the world, like the best love, is knocking at your door.
OK, this is a good film for people who are members of their own local Romantic Anonymous. Ameris, Carre and Poelvoorde barely mange to keep this film in the watchable region of our brains as it ricochets from one gag to another. For those who love modern French rom-coms, Carre is delightful.
She grabs a little of Juliette Binoche from “Chocolat” and a little of Sally Hawkins from “Happy Go Lucky, “ adds a dash of Audrey Tautou from “Amelie” and, presto, the result is a very watchable film for those who like to play it safe with foreign movies.
The film is safe because it is cute and cozy with those marvelous French chocolates that you can taste all the way from the screen. The sights and sounds are almost as good as a trip to the real place and there is no airplane travel required. No sex, no violence, no mystery and no backstabbing. This film is as pure as the driven snow.
A good old-fashioned love song with pictures to match. It is a bit funny that Jean-Rene’s bankrupt factory was failing because his chocolate recipes were too old and had not kept up with the times. This film would be in danger of the same flaw were it not for the touching depiction of the very shy. Perhaps there is hope after all.
Maybe it was because there were such serious films at this year’s (2011) Tribeca film festival---war, horror and all the rest, but “Romantics” comes across as a breath of fresh air. For those who screened the very-French "Potiche" a few weeks ago and liked that, “Romantics” would be a great follow-up.
It is better seeing two relatively young stars who are actually acting rather than two once-great stars who have seen better days. If the thought of a few of the stylistic moves of “Chocolat” mixed with the relatively fresh idea of love between two pathologically shy people appeals, try it.
The film is lame at times, even tedious to watch. However, after all, isn’t that the point? All shy people find themselves in lame and tedious situations all the time. When the humor works, it will remind you of Peter Sellers in the “Pink Panther” series.
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Directed by: Jean-Pierre AmérisWritten by: Jean-Pierre Améris and Philippe BlasbandStarring: Benoît Poelvoorde, Isabelle Carré and Lorella Cravotta Release Date: Tribeca Film Festival International Premier April 23, 3011MPAA: Not ratedRuntime: 80 minutesCountry: France/BelgiumLanguage: FrenchColor: Color
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