Tímidos anónimos

Jean-Pierre Améris, a good but somewhat overlooked French director, had hitherto specialized in harsh dramas (such as the intriguing 'Les aveux de l'innocent" (1996), in which an ordinary man declares he has committed a crime whereas he is innocent, or the profound "C'est la vie" (2001), a haunting meditation about life and death). For the first time, with "Les émotifs associés" (2010), Améris has opted for a lighter tone, ... without indulging in superficiality for all that. His new effort marks in fact an interesting evolution in Jean-Pierre Améris's way to address his subjects. At ease with the problems of others (his characters), the writer-director has now decided to examine a question that concerns his own self and to do it with optimism.

For if there is a subject that Jean-Pierre Améris knows like the back of his hand it is hyper emotionality. A highly emotional person himself since he was a child, Améris has however been able to give a film crew orders, to guide them and to impose himself on them, a thing an overly timid creature would never dream of ever managing to do. Having now overcome his handicap (at least to some extent as he occasionally still finds it hard to make a decision or deal with strangers), the director has undertaken to share his experience with his audiences and help the victims of hyper emotionality to have a better life.

And what better way to achieve this goal than resorting to the romantic comedy genre? For sure, provided a filmmaker avoids falling into the trap of over-sentimentality, he or she will make an audience susceptible to the attraction of one character to the other and take advantage of this feeling of empathy to instill his message in the complicit viewers. What Jean-Pierre Améris needed first was two amiable spokespersons to pass on his message and, with the help of his co-writer Philippe Blasband, he has given life to an engaging couple, consisting of Jean-René, the owner of a small chocolate factory who has never overcome his mental blocks and has remained single despite his deep love for women, and Angélique, probably the best chocolate maker alive, but who, for exactly the same reasons, has failed to make a name for herself and to find the genial soul. Mission accomplished, as the two characters are well delineated and remarkably interpreted by Benoît Poelvoorde and Isabelle Carré.

This established, all the suspense will lie in the fact that though Angélique and Jean-René share a common passion for chocolate and are drawn to each other, the fear of giving a bad image of themselves and of taking the first step, is a source of misunderstanding and tends to estrange them. Will there be a happy ending? Nothing is less certain...

Through this situation and these two characters, Jean-Pierre Améris describes, with the light touch allowed by comedy, the nightmare experienced by those people who are so scared of life that they miss out on it, preferring the safety of doing nothing over the risks of taking action. And not taking action does not only bring frustration to the people concerned , it is also misleading to others. Deep inside themselves neither is Jean-René this gruff unpleasant boss nor Angélique this slightly retarded little girl. They are much better persons and deserve better. "Les émotifs anonymes" will thus recount Angélique and Jean René's desperate efforts to become a couple on the one hand and to become who they are on the other, describing the various means they use to this end (consulting a behavioral psychologist, doing exercises to try to ACT even if the odds seem impossible, using auto suggestion, trying to touch someone, to invite a person to the restaurant, joining a mutual aid movement such as the "Emotifs Anonymes" (hence the title)...

A useful film for the overly timid, an entertaining and charming one for the more extrovert, "Les émotifs anonymes" is played to perfection by the ever delightful and fresh Isabelle Carré and cast- against-type Benoît Poelvoorde. There is such a chemistry between the two on-screen partners that you never doubt for a single moment that the princess can be infatuated with a bullfrog!

A comedy with a heart, "Les émotifs anonymes" contains several scenes to remember : the disaster dinner at the restaurant, Jean-René singing 'Dark Eyes' to Angélique at the hotel, Jean-René's declaration of love to Angélique during an "Emotifs Anonymes" meeting.

Don't be shy. Go and see it. Your audacity will be rewarded!

Take it as a given, French cinema has a long tradition of romantic comedies, and those are among the best in the genre. The dark side is, at the end of the day, they all look a bit the same.

"Les Émotifs anonymes" makes no exception, and its first layer storyline is nothing new. From the beginning, you know what is going to happen to the main two characters and how it is going to end. Still, it is nice to watch. What is interesting is underneath. Améris uses this pattern as an alibi to tell a whole other story, this one goes much deeper than expected, though the subject is always treated on a very light tone.

The film brings you into the universe of chocolate, this bittersweet treat well known to relieve heartaches, which, this is no coincidence, fits perfectly the characters, over-emotional people. With lightness and subtlety, the film shows the constant struggle of those people to overcome everyday situation, as basic as meeting someone new or shaking a hand. You will love those characters right from the start, understand their sadness and admire their efforts to keep going.

Améris keeps up a rhythm with no time out, making of this film a thrilling comedy, with a few scenes to remember. Poelvoorde delivers a perfect, soulfull performance, showing how he masters the genre and the emotion he gives. Isabelle Carré is to fall for in her role of exaggeratedly shy gifted girl.

Romantics Anonymous (2010)

Sometimes a feelgood movie is so obvious you know at the start how it's going to end. But it feels so good it doesn't matter, and that's the way "Romantics Anonymous" works.

The leading woman Isabelle Carre ("He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not") is a sweet, cute, lovable introvert, and I suppose any movie with her in it acting vulnerable and awkward would be a winner. Next to her is a very geeky kind of leading French actor, Benoit Pelvoorde, who is utterly brilliant even if he won't quite steal your heart. Or maybe he will. Part of the movie's aim is to take two mild misfits who are lonely and yet rather wonderful inside and get the audience to identify with them.

Another major character is the little chocolate factory where they meet. Seeing the chocolates being made, and tasted, is part of the fun of the movie. Even if you don't like chocolate you'll see the pleasure of a superb high-end chocolate being developed as you watch. There are then two groups of sidekicks, one for each character. The woman goes to group therapy for her emotional issues (hence the name of the movie) and the man has his staff at the factory. All of them are, en masse, supportive and sweet.

In fact, with all this sweetness going on you might wonder how you can stand it. And I suppose that's where you appreciate that it's just an hour and a quarter. Plenty. Even at this length you yearn for some complication, or some depth. Our two lovebirds are great but they remain oddly cardboard thin, too.

It's a bit ogre-ish to complain about such a well-meaning and well-made movie. It's edited with breakneck speed, shot well, acted well, and rises up the television sit-com genre it may somehow owe something to. Give it a look. Totally fun.

ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS (Les émotifs anonymes) is a wonder bit of French fluff that may seem like a little love story on the surface, but has a lot to say about our current state of relationships. Written (with Philippe Blasband) and directed by Jean-Pierre Améris this little film takes advantage of the fine comedic talents of the two stars and brings a supporting cast of of actors to the table who demonstrate how fine cameo roles can be polished.

Angélique Delange (the perky, multitalented Isabelle Carré) cannot cope with relating to people: she is a shy young student in a chocolate class taught by M. Mercier (Claude Aufaure) who rises to the top of her class as a chocolatier winning employment in the finest chocolate business in France when suddenly M. Mercier dies. Angélique is without a job and is terrified of interviewing (she belongs to a group therapy session called Romantics Anonymous where the group shares their flaws in relating to people. She sees and interview slot for a candy business owned by Jean-René Van Den Hugde (Benoît Poelvoorde) - a man who is terrified of women as he works through sessions with his therapist (Stéphan Wojtowicz). Angélique's interview goes well and she is hired on the spot - as a sales rep!

Through a series of trial and error Angélique wins the friendship of the small staff (Lorella Cravotta, Lise Lamétrie, Swann Arlaud, and Pierre Niney) who understand the business is going bankrupt and together they stage a lessons on chocolate making that results is the staff learning all the secrets for the now defunct Mercier Chocolates. Angélique and Jean- René seem to find an attraction to each other but their emotional timidity prevents them from connecting until a big break comes: the business is chosen to attend the chocolate prize competition and in the midst of the trip the two seem to overcome their handicaps. But the future isn't assured until Jean-René attends Angélique's group therapy session, a place where they both must confront their feelings, and from there on the film dashes into a fun French farce.

The film is in French with English subtitles and comes off like an uncorked bottle of fine champagne. It is a fun, light, romantic little takeoff on how so many people must join group therapy just to relate to each other. It bubbles!

Grady Harp

Les Émotifs Anonymes is a wonderful film: very Fench and truly touching and genuinely funny, with just the right amount of romance versus life and love and chocolate.

The two protagonists are two chronically emotional stunted personalities - and you just know they are made for each other - but how they get there is, like the very best of French comedy, imaginative, a little chaotic, somewhat mixed-up, but always well meant.

This is a film I can warmly recommend as one of the best French romantic comedies of recent memories - it has touches of Amélie and will appeal to a wide audience - it beautifully shot and lit, and all in all, the script is witty, the situations are funny without being ludicrous or cringeworthy, and above all, this is a charming and truly romantic film, without saccharine, but definitely, with a bitter sweetness of its own.