La reine des pommes

Valérie Donzelli's boyfriend dumps her, so she moves in with her cousin (who's eye is slowly decaying).

Donzelli is deeply depressed and has no job, so her cousin doesn't want her to stay alone in her apartment all day. She hangs out in the park across the street where she meets an art student. They form a close bond.

Donzelli gets a job babysitting, and the husband falls in love with her.

Donzelli meets another guy she becomes sexually obsessed with.

All of these men are played by Jérémie Elkaïm.

Donzelli's directorial debut is ... amiably strange. It's the kind of comedy you never actually laugh at, but you are quietly amused by much of it.

Usually I write IMDb reviews for one of two reasons: to tell everyone how great a film is OR to warn people off from seeing a film. In this case, it is the latter. It is hard for me to give a film a 6 when it aggravates me so much. I gave this one a 5 simply because it is a well intentioned film with some cute concepts. BUT it takes forEVER to get through those concepts to the very predictable ending. Sorry if I sound smarmy, but when i see a film like this one, all i can think is- "What is it about some young filmmakers ? If they would just study film history, they would know that this film has been made a thousand times, and that what they want to make is not unique. And then eventually they would make something worth watching."

Anyway, the real name, not the stupid American name, is Queen of Apples; not Queen of Hearts, and that might tell you a lot. It's about a hapless young woman who can't get over being left by the love of her life. It's quirky and even funny for about the first half. But then it just gets s l o w e r and more repetitive . I have little patience with films that tread water for an hour, and i was about to leave, but then it was over.Out of 20 films I have seen as part of the 2011 French Film Festical, this was the only dud, the only one that left me angry for wasting my time. Sigh. But I won't be surprised if this woman makes a very good film some day. The lead character reminded me a bit of the terrific actress/writer of The Iceberg, a film which i implore you to see instead of this one.

I guess this epitomises the fluffy end of the romantic comedy genre, with an interesting device of having all of the partners played by the same man.

However, it doesn't seem very feminist for her life to be dominated by the encounters with these guys and I struggled to empathise with her as a result. Also, her cousin with the eye trouble is confusing: from the dialogue, it sounded like she was supposed to be of a similar age (and thus sharing some of the romantic challenges) but visually she looks old enough to be her mother... maybe this is more clearly explained in the book?

I any case, it's diverting for a while and rattles along, but a bit pointless?