Ti va di pagare? - Priceless

Last night my girlfriend dragged me to a chick flick. Fortunately for me, my girl has pretty good taste and it happened to be a French chick flick. Priceless doesn't redefine the genre, but it does prove most European mainstream films have a lot more going for them than most mainstream American films.

"Love conquers all" is certainly not an original theme, yet clichéd or not, this telling feels both fresh and intelligent. Whereas American chick flicks portray women as lonely, hopeless and dying to meet Mr. Right, Priceless establishes its female lead as anything but. Audrey Tautou's Irène is an icy predator, a materialistic bitch with no redeeming qualities other than a great body every designer dress she dons showcases. Here the male lead Jean (Gad Elmaleh) is the hapless and hopeless romantic, who is desperate to melt the ice queen's heart. While this setup might call to mind the Coen Brother's Intolerable Cruelty, it doesn't suffer from IC's achilles heel: aping the films it was inspired by. The Coen's film is an all too obvious tribute to Howard Hawk's screwball romantic comedies, so much so, their respect for Hawk's becomes the very crutch that renders IC lame. Priceless also pays respect to classic French comedies (ie. the films of Louis de Funès and Jacques Tati) but, unlike IC, it never gets bogged down by its influences. Priceless manages to make the old seem new and it is buoyed by its charm, its nuanced writing and the performances of the two leads.

Gad Elmaleh who plays the naïve Jean, not only nails every bit of physical comedy assigned to him, but he also provides Priceless with its heart. You can't help but feel his pain as you see in his eyes the heartache and humiliation inflicted upon him by Tautou's Irène. Throughout the film Elmaleh effortlessly expresses a wide range of emotions and even though the comedy is, at times, broad it never feels contrived and always feels natural.

I'm not going to go over the top and call this a masterpiece, but if you've got to sacrifice some blood and sit through a chick flick after subjecting your better half to a Herzog marathon (as I recently did), then Priceless is the perfect choice.

This is a romantic comedy about the unlikely encounter between a bartender and with a woman who is constantly looking for a rich boyfriend.

The plot is captivating and delightful! The characters are developed well, and I connect with them greatly. Audrey Tautou is really great in this film. Her range of facial expressions alone is joyful to watch. The memorable scenes of her includes her boredom in bed, the surprise of seeing Jean in the restaurant and many more. She gives a very fine performance in this film! Jean's transformation from a regular guy to a high flier in the elite circle is well portrayed. The wardrobe department must be commended as well, for Audrey Tautou's ever changing outfit. The charm of the high life is well presented in the film. I really like this film.

Audrey Tautou, the sweetheart of France (and, to me, the rest of the world), returns to the romantic comedy in 'Hors de Prix' aka 'Priceless,' a film by Pierre Salvadori ('Après vous...' (2003)).

Tautou plays a different type of role (in the same type of film) as swindler Irène who uses her sexuality to make men keep her satisfied (materialistically). Her plans go awry when she's left by her rich fiancé and runs to the arms of whom she assumes is a rich business man, Jean (Gad Elmaleh). Unfortunately for Irène, however, Jean is merely a hotel worker who just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

Surprisingly (as she's regularly one of the most attractive women in the world), Audrey looks better than ever. Not only does she have her typical 'adorable' going for her, but here she's extremely sexy as well.

The story is charming and cute, but has a bit of a bite to it. It's questionable as to exactly WHY Jean would like Irène so much with as cruel as she is. . . sure, she's drop-dead gorgeous, but Jean didn't really seem, to me, the type that would fall for something like that. Oh well, can't have everything spoonfed to us and we must take it as given. There are many laugh-out-loud moments, mostly from Jean's awkwardness playing off Irène's smoothness. And it all turns out to be a very pleasant & entertaining romantic comedy that's sure to treat fans of the genre well.

Final Verdict: 8/10.

-AP3-

This is a classic case of moral ambivalence. Audrey Tautou, hypnotising us as usual with her big soulful eyes, plays someone of less than salubrious character, in fact a totally amoral gold-digger. The film is actually a study of gold-digging. Gad Elmaleh is the hapless intoxicant, drowning in the beauty of Audrey, a kind of Tautouholic, and who cannot understand that? So he starts out straight and gets sucked into this world of sell yourself for cash, and sticks with it because while they are in the same luxury hotels being paid to be sex toys by rich older people, he gets to spend his spare moments with her. The girlie friendship between them as prostitute colleagues drives him crazy because he loves her, but it is the only way he can be near her. The film has many hilarious moments, if being a prostitute is hilarious, and the story is about whether Audrey will discover what is 'beyond price', namely that thing called love. Audrey's talent for mania comes out especially in the scene where she goes wild with lust for a new dress which she sees for sale. She wants money, she wants things, and ultimately this is a morality tale about whether she can get beyond these delusions. Elmaleh was an excellent choice for the fellow, and he does a superb job in being sensitive and befuddled as he does what a man has gotta do to hang in there somehow. Will she crack? Audrey meanwhile exudes waves of warmth and creates a real individual out of someone who could so easily have been a cardboard cutout character. The screen is awash with her charm, one wants to wade out into that surf, like Elmaleh, knowing that one could easily drown. Will he? Does he? I'm not going to tell. Notch up one more irresistible vehicle for Audrey Tautou as she continues her march through unmissable film after film. But the mystery as to who and what she is deepens, because the more she is exposed to our view, the less we can really see of her, as she is the ultimate chamaeleon, of whom we will always know a diminishing amount as she progressively turns herself into a legend.

A charming, classy comedy of morals as only the French can do it. This was also the milieu of the great German-born American director Ernst Lubitsch, who flourished between the 20's and the 40's.

The theme of mutual con games mixing sex and money reminded me very much of Lubitsch's 1932 classic, "Trouble in Paradise", which shows up on TCM every once in awhile. See "Priceless" and rent "Trouble" and see if you agree.

This is not a masterpiece, but it is a very clever, witty and enjoyable film with an excellent cast. As always, Tautou is a delight. Cudos also to Gad Elmaleh as the bartender/dog walker Jean and Marie-Christine Adam as the rich widow.