Gold-digger Audrey Tautou mistakes a shy waiter for a tycoon, and he takes advantage. She soon learns the truth and exacts expensive revenge... until about 45 minutes into the movie, when a very clever plot twist evens the playing field. Tautou is fine in every way, and Moroccan actor Gad Elmaleh grows ever more appealing as he rises to the challenges to his moral code.
The screwball element is crucial; without it, I wouldn't have been able to tolerate the sheer avarice. But the silliness of the plot reminds me of old Hollywood movies like My Man Godfrey and Holiday: a kind of adult fairy tale where the lavish setting is part of the fantasy. And the settings couldn't be more lavish, inside and out, in the poshest hotels of the most gorgeous playgrounds in the South of France, from Biarritz to Cap d'Antibes.
The screwball element is crucial; without it, I wouldn't have been able to tolerate the sheer avarice. But the silliness of the plot reminds me of old Hollywood movies like My Man Godfrey and Holiday: a kind of adult fairy tale where the lavish setting is part of the fantasy. And the settings couldn't be more lavish, inside and out, in the poshest hotels of the most gorgeous playgrounds in the South of France, from Biarritz to Cap d'Antibes.