Nathalie (Audrey Tautou) is left devastated after the death
of her new husband Francois (Pio Marmai) and spends the next three years
mourning him, in a daze, floating through life. One day unexpectedly she kisses
a new colleague of hers, Markus (Francois Damiens), an unattractive, balding
Swede in an act that leaves him perplexed and creates tensions at work.
The first half of this film was incredibly dull and bland. I
was beginning to regret seeing it until the introduction of Damiens as Markus.
He bought a spark to the film and took it from a magnolia tragedy to a sweet
and funny romantic comedy. Up until this point it felt like the film was going
nowhere. Nathalie had been hit on by her boss in a scene which bought nothing
to the film; she had somehow gone from selling programmes at the theatre to
having her own office and running some sort of case (which was never
explained). Then Damiens arrived and lit up the screen. His character was
bumbling and nervous but sweet and kind and it is clear why Nathalie is drawn
to him. Their relationship creates many funny scenes as well as some that verge
on melancholia.
Tautou is fine as Nathalie but she is hardly stretched. She
has to play a pretty young widow who looks glum, something her face seems to do
naturally. The supporting cast are all fine too and include a Christina
Hendricks lookalike(Audrey Fleurot) who plays a secretary, wears the same outfits as ‘Joan’
from Mad Men and even has the same
pen around her neck! The star of the show though is Francois Damiens who steals
the film. He plays the sort of character that you would love to be friends with
and you know would always look out for you. He also gives the ordinary man hope
by getting together with Audrey Tautou. He also provides most of the film’s
comic relief.
One of the problems with the film is that it suffers with
the same musical trouble as Little White Lies. Obviously film makers choose music that conveys a certain mood but
here as in the aforementioned film, it is so palpable it verges on being
ridiculous. I also have a problem with the dull first act but overall this is a
throwaway romantic comedy which features strong central performances and a
message that it doesn’t matter how someone looks but what matters is what sort
of person you are. 7/10
