Quatre étoiles

There is something wrong with today's french cinema, and it perhaps comes from what's been it's most fascinating side since the "nouvelle vague" : it's attraction, mixed with repulsion for American movies. Since the 60's, the french directors have always been fascinating by American cinema. But most of them use the American cinema's codes to transpose them in a french environment : from Truffaut' "Tirez Sur Le Pianiste" - which plays with the stereotypes of the Film noir in a french universe - to Gans' "Pacte Des loups" - which transposes the western codes in the pre-revolutionary France.

And it seems that, with "Quatre étoiles", Christian Vincent tries to archive this form of transformation of American's codes with the french touch. Indeed, the director quotes himself American's comedies from the 40's and says they're direct influence to make this film. "Quatre étoiles" tries to transfers the atmosphere of American's classical comedies from Los Angeles to Cannes. But unfortunately, it doesn't work. Why ?

Like in a Cukor' or Lubitch' comedy, the character - a young an inconstant woman - inherit, out of nowhere, 50000 euros and decides to spend it all in a week in Cannes, where, in search of adventures, she falls in love with a small time crook, played by José Garcia. And if a lot of situations are similar to 40's and 50's American films, it never reaches their level of grace and humor. It's true that we have, like in American movies, a young and in-experimented girl who knows exactly what she wants, and who decides to change her life and social position in a day, and that we also have an impossible love story between two characters who hate each other, and are still stuck together, but everything seems so small compared to its models.

When, in a American movie, the character would have inherit millions of dollars, the character here has only a few euros left, which can't provokes great and hilarious contrasted situations. The movie always avoid absurd situations and epic quiproquos, like it is afraid of its comical potential : everything stays calm and little, like the characters, who are just a reduction of American stereotypes : like the talkative-but-not-so-bad-crook. And when you reduce stereotypes, nothing much stays.

What stays after this very little movie is a small impression of boring, just tempered by the presence of the great Francois Cluzet, who plays a very funny half-brained ex-formula 1 driver, who falls in love with the wrong girl.

When I first watched this movie, I had absolutely no clue as to what it was about - perhaps one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much, since I (apparently unlike the other people who commented) didn't expect it to be a romantic comedy.

The movie itself is very surprising and funny - the story is that of Franssou, a young woman who inherits a large sum of money and decides to live it out in Cannes. There she meets Stéphane, a conman who desperately needs money... and from then on, the plot evolves into a delightful love story where Franssou tries to con Stéphane into admitting he's in love with her.

The dialogues were amazing and served by the acting: José Garcia was wonderful in his role - sure of himself and macho when conning people while sometimes completely baffled when faced with Carré's cheeky Franssou; Cluzet's René... I can't even begin to define how much the character made me laugh. The use of a few running jokes (René's obsession with cars, the Asiatic tourists at the hotel) didn't hamper the movie but indeed made it even more enjoyable and I can't help but find the writing truly wonderful. Another plus is Luis Rego's role in the movie - the man is always funny.

To address some of the other commenter's criticism, I'd like to say that: 1) While the movie does work with the same theme great American comedies of the 50's do, it uses their basic premise and works on it to achieve something different and new which, IMHO, is worth seeing. 2) Re: Mr Bowen's idea that because Stéphane is French-Arab, the movie is a parable for... well, he doesn't actually say, but apparently it's bad. I'm amused by that reaction because Stéphane's ancestry is not a plot-point in the movie - indeed it is not mentioned at all, which makes me wonder how he got "French-Arab" from an actor of Spanish decent. The film is a romantic comedy, stop trying to see metaphors on society in it.

This movie is basically good, light-hearted fun. Watch it and you'll have a smile on your face for the rest of the day - it's the best thing that can be said about a romantic comedy.

This may be indeed the worst film billed as a serious feature to have ever been made. Besides the ridiculous "love story" between two disgusting characters, the plot proceeds without giving any regard to the several propositions (some of them admittedly intriguing) which are made at the film's start. As the standards of production are up to the commercial circuit, one does not feel immediately tempted to click out the DVD and go on to some more rewarding chore. Thus proceeds the expectation that, somehow, the apparently random sequences of scenes - some of them slightly funny, mainly due to the performance of the Formula 1 retired driver - will wrap up in some slightly logical way. No way. The ending is so absurd, that I felt inclined to shoot at my TV set. Of course, this would only add injury to the insult.

It's possible to believe in Stephane, the con man who operates in a smart hotel on the Riviera, but he's not particularly interesting or likable; and why he falls in love with the schoolteacher who is spending her small inheritance is a mystery. And we are supposed to believe that the schoolteacher instantly transforms into a tough business-person, and falls in love with Stephane. I didn't. I neither believed her character, nor liked her dishonest and greedy manner. Stephane's friend the tongue-tied, love-struck racing car champ (Cluzet) was another idea without any basis in character. And everyone talks all the time, while I was longing for them to get out and see a bit of the Riviera and do something. By the halfway mark I was wondering if this might have made a decent film with a better script some charismatic actors, and a director with some visual flair, but it was merely an idea to revive a sort of "To Catch a Thief" with very little understanding of the dramatic infrastructure or charm, or pace of that film, I realised I was dreaming. The Hitchcock picture isn't that good, but next to this one, it's a masterpiece. "Quatre Etoiles" has a couple of good ideas, but they do not a feature film make.

Do not try to compare this movie with the eyes of watching American cinema. It is a simple and funny french movie. Cluzet is perfect, Garcia and Carré are great and the scenery lives up to the beauty of Cote D'Azur. Yes, the end was due for the rest of the movie but, who cares?