Der Auftragslover

I had the chance of attending this film's premiere in Lisbon, that counted with the director's presence. He was pleased that his main goal of entertaining the audience was fulfilled. And that's just it.

Chaumeil hands us a smooth and enjoyable work, perfect for a Sunday afternoon. Nothing more than a funny and cool romantic comedy with subtle slashes of a different action because of the 'breaking relationships' plot, always in a soft touch. I point out the chemistry between the two main actors, one of the film's main qualities, and specially Romain Duris that is becoming an essential actor of french contemporary cinema, commercial as independent.

A 'feel-good' movie destined to amuse the public and that achieves well his mission in a dynamic and pleasuring way - 6/10.

Heartbreaker (2010)

The latest Romain Duris romantic comedy, which is a kind of backwards "Hitch" and it's even more fun. It takes a short while to establish the central cast of characters, but the premise is made clear right away. The leading man seduces women who are about to marry the "wrong" guy. He then steps out of the way, leaving the woman high and dry. Both the "wrong" engagement and his own new involvement are on ice.

This is more hilarious than such a formula film should be. It's a kind of escapist comedy, but with such good pedigree and filmmaking chops you really get swept away. Duris can be really a charmer, and his two sidekicks are hilarious as well as heartwarming.

The fact it's mostly set in Monte Carlo gives it a compact, glitzy charm (far more glitzy than Bahrain, for my money, speaking of money). The plot goes as planned at first, of course. But inevitably things go very wrong. After some last minute swerves and laughs, things seem to go right, until the final ending, which I'll leave to you. It really is like "Hitch" or "Failure to Launch," which set up a kind of protocol for how everyone should behave, and within that set of rules people misbehave. It's the latest kind of screwball comedy formula, and a dependable one, especially this well made.

Most of it is in French, but a bit is in English, too, for the subtitle averse. And all the music is in English (interestingly, but typically). But never mind too much. You could almost get it all without words. Funny, warm, witty, well made fluff stuff.

This is a very good romantic comedy - probably the best French rom-com since Hors De Prix (Which is my favourite French comedy of the decade) - oodles of fun, high living, and then something unexpected - lots and lots of heart.

We really enjoyed L'arnacoeur, sure it's unrealistic and yes it follows it's genre, but those are two reasons why it's great to watch - it is laugh out loud funny and smarter than it lets on - and the two leads work well together to produce a French comedy with wit, farce, and l'amour.

Compared to most rom-coms (Boy finds girl, loses girl, finds girl again) this is a league above, it's not cutesy, though it is over polished in places, but the plotting is smart, the leads have chemistry, and above all it about finding love and I, for one, give it a massive two thumbs up.

Yes, it's *another* romantic comedy. And yes, there's nothing very original or groundbreaking here. But once you know what you're getting into, this is a really enjoyable watch with lots of funny moments. Perhaps it's just because the French style makes it feel a little different from the jaded American/British 'rom com' genre. Or perhaps the credit should go to the leads, Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis, who were both great. Who'd have thought Paradis would pop up in this of all places. The movie for me was let down only by the ending, which was entirely predictable, but I still laughed along all the way! Recommended light viewing.

I'm not into French cinema because I don't usually understand the jokes in them, but I went to see Heartbreaker last night for a special preview. I was completely surprised because it charmed me in the first five minutes and from then on it was an almost non-stop laughing, chuckling, cackling audience around me. I loved the storyline and the characters. Alex Lippi is a guy hired to seduce women and break up couples. When he is hired to sort out Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) 10 days before her wedding, he pulls out all the tricks from the hat but she doesn't fall for anything. Interestingly, the thing that it was in French made this movie work much better than a Hollywood version. I thoroughly enjoyed it because it was funny, witty, fresh, minus the clichés and cheap jokes.