French Girl

I'm a French Canadian from Quebec City and I enjoyed this movie even if it was full of cliches from my own City. It's obviously full of stereotypes but still enjoyable. Sometimes you just have to sit back, relax and enjoy without judgment! If you are ready to do that, just go and watch it. I'm pretty sure you'll have a good time. And, if it makes you want to come to our beautiful Quebec City, please do. It's beautiful and indeed, Le Château Frontenac is a sight to behold 😀! And apparently, it's haunted! You can get two ghosts for the price of one! And if it's true, " Who you going to call?" 😜 Ghostbusters! 👻!

'' French Girl '' is a romantic comedy about a man who follows his French Canadian girlfriend back to Canada, where he meets her parents and her ex who tries to get between them.

Surprisingly, the movie is not that bad. It has some funny moments, it is romantic enough to be believable, and it has an interesting concept. Yes, it is not original, as plenty rom coms were founded on the basis of meeting the parents or even having a cultural shock when they do due to their cultural differences. And yet, this one manages to be subbtle and funny.

On the other hand, there were some rushed moments and the ending was just okay.

For the English original version, Canadian French characters keep their own voices and speak Québécois - the dialect of French speaking people in Québec and a large part of French Canadian outside Québec. Nice.

Ridiculously, for the French version, there are no Canadian translation, only a translation from France. Then Québécois characters are dubbed in Paris French - which they proudly named True French - instead of keeping the Canadian French voices. So if you are a Québécois and you don't want to feel that the New York guy is visiting Paris, listen to the original soundtrack and put French subtitles to understand the English characters.

I found the first 20 or so minutes difficult to get through. First there is the drug that Gordon's dad gave him to calm him down for the flight and it made him act like a total jackass on the plane and in the airport terminal. Then there was the gathering of French Canadian family, all talking too loud and over each other at the table during a meal. All more annoying than entertaining. I thought to myself, "If this is how the whole movie is then I am going to abandon it."

Thankfully it eventually redeemed itself, things settled down and a pretty interesting story developed for the rest of the way.

Zach Braff is New York school teacher, Gordon Kinski. He is pretty much a dull, ordinary guy. His girlfriend is French Canadian actress Evelyne Brochu as Sophie-Jeanne Tremblay. She is a successful chef that soon gets extra notice. A person from her past contacts her, they are holding a contest of sorts and want her to compete for the job of Executive Chef at a new high-end restaurant in Quebec. That is the spark for the trip back home where her family runs a farm that produces superior lambs.

The person from the past is Vanessa Hudgens as Ruby Collins, a somewhat famous chef with a TV show and she is holding the competition for the new chef. Greatly complicating matters is she and Evelyne had more than just a professional relationship back in the day and Gordon does not know about it, as he is preparing to ask her to marry him.

My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Amazon Prime. The streaming version includes English subtitles when French is spoken. In spite of its very rough beginning it turned out to be a better movie than my wife and I expected it to be. Its IMDb rating seems just a bit low.

This is a very unfair rating for this film.

Do we not enjoy a cheesy rom com anymore? This movie was par for the course and a prototypical Zack Braff role where he plays the protagonist who you root for, and laugh at, as he continues to get in his own way. Think his character throughout nine seasons of scrubs. This movie had a similar plot line to a movie that he did with Jason Bateman, the ex, add a more attractive, villain, Vanessa, Hudgens, and a lot more spoken French requiring reading subtitles. But if you like that movie, or the Last Kiss, or Garden State, then this movie is also for you.