Und nebenbei das große Glück

Sophie Marceau marvelous, the movie is funny. A relax session. Carpe dien.

I came here to add my rating when I saw there's a reviewer who gave it 1 star. I respect but fully disagree with that rating. First the acting is great all around including the children. Second, the pace is fast, not a boring moment which is rare for a romantic comedy. And third, I laughed out loud several times and I'm Latin American. I've watched hundreds of comedies, both film and TV, and few have made laugh out loud. I even debated if give it 8 only for this reason. Ok, it's not 8 stars, but this film will be part of my "comfort food" films collection, which are movies I re-watch when not in a mood to put my brain to work. Definitely a good addition.

This film is only for those who are entertained by "comedian" Gad Elmaleh. He takes up most of the time. Sophie only appears once in a while (another good pay-check for her, though). Gad's type of slapstick humor is really unbearable: the frenetic piano playing, the continuous narcissistic showmanship, the tired old battle of the sexes quips, and his buddies and their clique-y in-crowd--jokes - that must be witnessed by all else around them, because really the joke is on every one else, for paying even a smidgen of attention to these unpleasant creatures. Who wouldn't wanna be part of this social circle, right? Not!

Decor wise it's all a big chaos as well. The only places of relief are the outside Paris exteriors.

Moreover this film is pure propaganda for everything that's wrong with France these days. Absolute conformism to hierarchic capitalism is portrayed as completely normal (even desirable); proposing a further degeneration of the three basic principles of French culture: liberty, fraternity, and equality. The characters think nothing of it, that they have to subject themselves to humiliation and maltreatment from "powerful" people (for example the ape like record company director barking at Gad through Skype - like an African despot). To an immigrant like, Elmaleh, this role reversal might be hilarious, but the native French people are fed up with this degeneracy. Me and my buddies wil bring your once civilised country down, and I'm gonna rub your faces in it. That is the main purpose of the film, I got it loud and clear, from picking up on all the subliminal messages mockingly thrust in my face as "comedy."

This product is reprehensible on all levels.

The movie is simply wonderful. A couple meet (in the rain) and fall in love. As in all good French comedies, the drama begins right there, with lots of slapstick, especially from Sophie Marceau. The woman is simply a grandiose actress. He is an advertising jingle composer and has his problems with women who are taken and have children. Sophie is taken with a much older man and has three children. Over the course of the story, the two simply try it out with each other. The movie is fresh and makes you forget the worries of the day. Cinematography, direction and music do the rest. Highly recommended.

Sophie Marceau is still able to enchant men (and probably some women too along the way). Apart from her obvious good looks she's also a good actress, which she has proved in other movies as well (one with Monica Belucci comes to mind though I forgot the title). And while she's not the lead role here, she is second to the man with issues. The good thing is, her character is not just some woman, but is fully fleshed out as well.

While our main character has obvious issues, we still root for him. Not all his moves might feel logic, but life does take crazy turns sometimes. His "fear" is a bit underplayed I guess, but that is not really that bad a thing. Actually you might credit the movie for not making it a bigger issue. You will see where this is going, but that doesn't take the fun of getting there.