Un plan parfait

Dany Boon is a genius.

This is a great romantic comedy, the framing device is brilliant and surprising, the narration spotless, the acting first-rate, the comedy: funny!

The success is that while drawing from the finest of comedies in cinema history : Capra (It Happened One Night) Lubitsch (Ninotchka) Sturges (The Lady Eve) Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle) this brings new breath to a well-worn genre.

An example off the top of my head is the way in which Diane Kruger struggles to seduce Boon and the dose of pragmatic realism she brings to this difficult task, which makes her all the more sympathetic and funny. She is miles away from Claudette Colbert in The Palm Beach Story, who so easily puts her adventuress plans into action, almost purring with pleasure.

Yes, this film is French but you can still enjoy it even if sound comes out of the actors mouths when they speak and it isn't English but French, I promise you it is a million miles from stereotypical French cinema, this deserves an international audience! (got that off my chest)

This is entertainment, get it while it's hot! (no there isn't any explicit sex in it and no existentialism either, a truly different French film)

The two main actors make a difference in this delightful romantic comedy, Dany Boon revealing once again his comic verve and the algid Diane Kruger proving an unsuspected comic side, and supporting the role of Boon very effectively. The story may lack some cohesion , being more a sequence of isolated funny moments, rather than a development of a story, although the flashback storytelling tries to give unity to the plot. The characters, especially Isabelle, are little developed and change abruptly without much coherence. However, some truly comic moments are to be appreciated and these are the best moments and the set piece of the picture, which can offer two hours of entertainment, together with some exotic charm of its settings.

Far from it actually. Unless we're talking about the original plan. But even that wasn't perfect. Also telling the story does not actually make sense, seeing the context it is meant for. Unless the surprise at the end was planned. But it wasn't. Also deviating from the original plan as Diane Krugers character does, is kind of a major fail. It's a general problem if you just start to think a little bit, nothing in this movie should work.

But I still had fun watching it. Because I decided that I didn't care, that it didn't make any sense at all. The movie itself tries to cover it up by fast cuts and even faster speeches/dialog. The jokes rate is therefor a hit and miss parade. Still there is charm and there are some nice gems to be found, even though there are far better french comedies out there.

I loved the magic that the actors brought to their roles, the theme music, the intelligence of the script, in short, everything about it! The theme – that of the 'inaccessible' stunningly beautiful, drop-dead gorgeous lady who simply has to glance at a guy to make him fall in love with her - now that's an experience that every male has had. Many of us simply steer clear of such females as they break our hearts as easily as some will pull the wings off birds, as they flit from male to male, savouring and enjoying the enormous power that they have.

I loved that the script-writer actually got inside the head of the beauty and we experienced some of her angst as she tried to find the man who will love her for the rest of his life – and whom she can similarly love. Women like these (of all cultures) are often rather remote and aloof for most males.

But in this movie, she came alive! It is, of course, highly recommended.

Lately the French have a kind of patent on good comedies. Daniel Boon is very good in this role, we know him of Welcome to the North or Nothing to Declare and also in this movie he is superb. In Un Plan Parfait we have although some really absurd situations which let you laugh loud out. They are never disturbing and it is one of those movies that you laugh quite a lot, of course if you like the Daniel Boon movies. The 2 actors do the part of the beauty and the beast and the romance is total. I had a real good time with this movie and left the theater with a smile on my face and with a good feeling. The subject is absurd and the situations as well, so don't expect any reality in it. The jokes have a good setup and are not boring at all. Like I already said, the French have a good sense of humor, even when the movies have different targets like this one or the Intouchable. This movie cannot be compared although with the Intouchable due to the subject and contents of the Intouchable, which is quite serious and subtle.