(from www.moviecritic.com.au) Tautou plays the part of Irène... a typical dark French vixen who gets by in life by dating very wealthy men. While traveling with one of these men, she meets Jean (Elmaleh), the bar tender in a fancy hotel. She doesn't realize that he's a barman since she finds him passed out on a couch in the lounge. He pretends he is exactly her type... another well-to-do man (but much younger and better looking than the one she was dating at the time) staying at the hotel and brazen enough to jump behind the bar and make her a birthday cocktail. Naturally, one thing leads to another... but she's gone by morning and he doesn't see her again for another year. When he does, his cover is blown and Irène's boyfriend figures out that she cheated on him. This forces her to go out and find a new beau... all the while, Jean follows her trying to get closer to her. He decides to play her game and takes up with an older wealthy woman. Cleverly, he uses this lucky arrangement to get closer to Irène, who schools him on the ways to get what he wants from his girlfriend... and, of course, this friendship leads to love...
The humor is both silly and very, very French. Jean is the classic, buffoonish, unwitting hero stumbling over things, mixing up his behavior between being a waiter and pretending to be a rich man, surprising Irène causing her to choke on her coffee or champagne, etc. The fact that they bond throughout the movie over how to manipulate their older, wealthy companions, though, is typical French absurdism. To our innocent American ears, that can sound rather unworthy, but I think it's hilarious! It's not like everyone involved is not aware that there's using going on in all directions.
Irène is an interesting character to me. Here's a girl who has decided she wants to live a certain kind of lifestyle. She won't wear less than Gucci and Chanel or carry less than Vuitton. She wants to eat luxuriously... eating meals dripping with caviar (which she doesn't even like, but, tells poor Jean she forces herself to eat it so she'll get used to it) and lobster. At first, she has no interest in Jean other than sexual entertainment (a change from her older companion). Once she sees he's just a worker bee, she ditches him to call some of her old stand-bys. After hours of making phone calls, she finally comes across the grandson of one of her previous conquests. They make a date, which Jean crashes, so to teach him a lesson, Irène agrees to go out with him... but only in accordance with the lifestyle she has chosen. He pulls his savings together, but she maxes him out. She seems convinced that this lifestyle makes her someone... maybe even that it makes her happy... even though her cheating could have signalled to her that she wanted something more. Tautou's portrayal of a shallow girl evolving to a woman in love is pretty gradual, very smooth, quite convincing. You watch the actress evaluate every situation with her facial expressions, the change in her body language... she goes from loose but aloof to intense and deliberate.
Dear Jean... so in love with this mysterious girl and so hopeless. He should remind most girls of some nerd in elementary school that was so into you that he... pulled your hair? Gave you a frog? Pushed you down the slide on the playground? You know who I'm talking about... Anyway, you can't help but love that kid, can you? He tried so hard... in all the wrong ways, but it's all he knew how to do to express his passion. So, Jean stalks Irène, cleans out his account for her, sleeps with an older woman for her, cheats on his wealthy lady to seduce a younger one that claimed the older man Irène used to date, and so on. What a lucky girl to find a guy who is good-looking, broke, and willing to do just about anything for her happiness.
I'm not big on love stories, but I like to watch people change or make a grand gesture to prove their love. Jean has absolutely nothing to offer the designer collecting Irène, but he goes after her anyway. While she was thinking this poor moron didn't have a clue (maybe he would admit he didn't), Jean followed her, made things work to be with her, until he finally found a way to win her trust, her heart. Irène's second beau dumps her when he sees her kissing Jean on a balcony across from their hotel room. He takes everything he bought her... clothing, shoes, handbags, etc... locks her out of the room, and leaves her with the bill. Jean sells the Jager watch his companion bought him to get her back a room in the hotel and a beautiful Chanel dress he was unable to buy her earlier in the film. Then he puts his feelings and security on the line to seduce Irène's original boyfriend's new young lady so Irène can attempt to get him back. This gesture finally gets through to Irène that she already has something... priceless...Just sweet, light fun...
And if nothing else, it's a more interesting movie to watch to look at the clothes! For those who loved The Devil Wears Prada (ugh), Eat Your Heart Out! I adore Audrey Tautou but I definitely hate her a little for being able to wear these sorts of dresses:
(Images from www.allocine.fr, dorablahblah.blogspot.com, http://pixhost.ws/avaxhome/,http://moodboard.typepad.com )
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