Un plan parfait

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.

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.

In Paris, Corinne "Coco" (Alice Pol) brings her chief Valérie (Laure Calamy) to spend the Christmas Eve with her family. Valérie is depressed since she is newly divorced and Coco decides to tell the story of her sister Isabelle (Diane Kruger) to Valérie to cheer her up. Isabelle is a dentist that has been living with and working in the same office of her boyfriend Pierre (Robert Plagnol) for ten years. When they decide to get married, Isabelle and Coco are worried about the family curse that every first marriage ends in divorce. Isabelle and Coco arrange a marriage for Isabelle with a student in Copenhagen so that she can immediately divorce to marry Pierre to live happily ever after.

In the flight, Isabelle meets the inconvenient free-spirited tourism columnist Jean-Yves (Dany Boon) that is traveling to Kenya. When the student does not show up, Isabelle decides to travel to Kenya to marry Jean-Yves. She has the chance when they travel to visit a Masai people when they get married. Isabelle returns to Paris and when she goes to schedule her wedding with Pierre, she discovers that Jean-Yves has registered his Masai wedding certificate in Paris. Now Isabelle travels to Moscow expecting to force Jean-Yves to sign the divorce papers. Will she succeed in her intent?

"Un plan parfait" is a charming movie with a silly premise. The idea of the family curse and the attitude of a clever woman like Isabelle traveling to Denmark first and Kenya later to get married and a quick divorce after is ridiculous. But Diane Kruger is a gorgeous, talented and charming actress and her chemistry with Dany Boon makes the movie work despite the premise. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Um Plano Perfeito" ("A Perfect Plan")

A pretty silly romantic comedy, but I could not stop smiling.... and everyone just try to get your eyes off Diane Krüger in this one. This is a cinematic experience how I guess it used to be before Computers took over. Highly recommended.

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)