À la folie... pas du tout

I didn't know what to expect when I saw this. I'm an American living in France and my girlfriend is French and rents all the French movies for me. This is one of those mixed genre movies that actually works! Audrey Tautou is so charming and capable as an actress that she makes you root for her even when you know she's playing someone completely crazy. She's already the biggest, most successful actress here in France and she's going to get even bigger. She's got what it takes to play different characters and she shows that in this movie.

The director brilliantly pieces together the two halves of this movie and by the end, it is believable. We almost wanted to watch it again so we can catch the tricks but we didn't have time.

Anyway this is a great French treat and for those of you who liked Tautou in "Amelie" and "A Very Long Engagement" you're going to like her in this one too.

This is an interesting story of obsessive love. We first explore the story from her point of view, then his. Given the main plot idea of obsessive love, it invites a comparison to "Fatal Attraction". This is a much better film. The plot is more interesting, with solid acting. There are a lot of inferences as to what happened in the film. We aren't spoon-fed the entire plot.

I found it to be quite enjoyable.

This "thriller lite" tells of innocence and victimization, and relies as much on its structural twists as on Audrey Tautou's saucer eyes and Samuel Le Bihan's hunkiness. You might even call it a black comedy, with lots of freshness and style. The best way to view this is to go in cold, relax, and let it grab you by the arm and gently drag you in.

That said, it is not really a romance, although people who like romances will find enough roses and hand-drawn artwork here to please. If you are one of those who generally refuses to see movies with "love" in the title, consider that "love" isn't in the original French title, so rest assured you can watch this without reservation.

It's really hard to talk about this movie without giving something away. I'll give away as little as possible, but my recommendation would be, stop reading this or any other review and just watch the movie, it's very good.

Since I don't want to give anything away I can't say much about the story. It starts as a movie about a cute, sweet girl in love, and the movie's use of an actress who exudes sweetness and innocence makes what happens as the movie progresses all the more startling. The movie is devoted to its one central trick, and what's notable is not the trick - lots of movies have tricks - but how much time is spent in showing off the filmmaker's cleverness. This could have been annoying or self indulgent but I enjoyed it. Some people won't be surprised - I'm really not as good as guessing twists as a lot of people (which is why I consider the movie Matchstick Men to be so poor in spite of good reviews; that one I guessed straight through to the end early on) - but I was surprised and quite delighted.

I would first like to start this review with a warning. This is not a romantic comedy, as you would probably presume by looking at the cover of this box. That is what I thought when I first discovered this 'gem' of a film. I picked it up to enjoy with my wife, and strangely, I found myself enjoying it more than her.

Without giving too much away (or more than already has by others), this is a twisted story where we, as viewers, have the opportunity to see the plot unfold from both of our main characters. Audrey Tautou takes a devilishly good turn from her innocent character in Amelie to play an artist who falls in love … or so we think. As we watch her whirlwind romance with a married man hit their ups and downs like any normal relationship, we get comfortable and stable with the film … then suddenly it changes. We rewind backwards and are shown the story through the eyes of her 'boyfriend'. Our image of this film enhances as we are handed the unexpected.

This was a beautiful film. From not only the cinematography, but also the characters and the story. This was a rarity. It is not often that you find a film of this caliber in today's modern cinema. Normally, films have a very structured story with its theme defined early within the film. Not this masterpiece. If you assume that you know this film prior to finishing it, then you will be the laughing stock of the town. I have seen several films in my lifetime, and I can honestly say that I never saw this story unfolding. I was one of those that expected the beginning to be the entire story … boy, was I surprised.

Tautou carries this film on her bare shoulders. She gives a stunning performance as a woman with a heart full of love for a man that she encounters. Her turn from Amelie proves that she is a very versatile actor.

She emotionally pulls you from your seat and glues you to the screen. Add to this the sheer brilliance of the story; with all of its twists and turns, and powerful cast that only accentuates Tautou's absurdity only helps propel this story from average to amazing.

This is one of those films that I can watch time and time again without it loosing its appeal. I would suggest it for anyone that has ever had a secret admirer. For anyone that has obsessed over anyone from afar, this is the film for you. A-la Sliding Doors, this film was impressive.

Grade: ***** out of *****