Orchestra Seats (2005)
(Fauteuils d'orchestre/Avenue Montaigne)
Country: FR
Technical: col/2.35:1 105m
Director: Danièle Thompson
Cast: Cécile de France, Valérie Lemercier, Albert Dupontel, Claude Brasseur, Dani, Christopher Thompson, Laura Morante, Suzanne Flon, Sydney Pollack
Synopsis:
A penniless, waif-like girl, whose principal weapon is her disarming optimism, charms a sexist cafe owner into giving her a job because, coincidentally, there is a concert, a play opening and an auction happening simultaneously on the same street in Paris that month. She then contrives to make the acquaintance of all the major players, endear herself and help straighten out their lives, before finally giving her grandmother the luxury overnight stay in a five-star hotel of which she has always dreamt and snapping the Prince Charming for herself.
Review:
It sounds intolerably schmaltzy told like that, but this is in fact only a small step away from the Bacri-Jaoui brand of wry observation in an artistic milieu. It is different, though, since it most definitely is out to charm us with its self-obsessed, ditzy, embattled characters, and that is exactly what it succeeds in doing pretty well. Amélie it is not (thank Heaven), but it is one of those rare French films that reassures us Paris is still a city in which romance and happiness can occur near a café terrace, and where being homeless is not a problem provided you are cute and resourceful.
(Fauteuils d'orchestre/Avenue Montaigne)
Country: FR
Technical: col/2.35:1 105m
Director: Danièle Thompson
Cast: Cécile de France, Valérie Lemercier, Albert Dupontel, Claude Brasseur, Dani, Christopher Thompson, Laura Morante, Suzanne Flon, Sydney Pollack
Synopsis:
A penniless, waif-like girl, whose principal weapon is her disarming optimism, charms a sexist cafe owner into giving her a job because, coincidentally, there is a concert, a play opening and an auction happening simultaneously on the same street in Paris that month. She then contrives to make the acquaintance of all the major players, endear herself and help straighten out their lives, before finally giving her grandmother the luxury overnight stay in a five-star hotel of which she has always dreamt and snapping the Prince Charming for herself.
Review:
It sounds intolerably schmaltzy told like that, but this is in fact only a small step away from the Bacri-Jaoui brand of wry observation in an artistic milieu. It is different, though, since it most definitely is out to charm us with its self-obsessed, ditzy, embattled characters, and that is exactly what it succeeds in doing pretty well. Amélie it is not (thank Heaven), but it is one of those rare French films that reassures us Paris is still a city in which romance and happiness can occur near a café terrace, and where being homeless is not a problem provided you are cute and resourceful.
(Fauteuils d'orchestre/Avenue Montaigne)
Country: FR
Technical: col/2.35:1 105m
Director: Danièle Thompson
Cast: Cécile de France, Valérie Lemercier, Albert Dupontel, Claude Brasseur, Dani, Christopher Thompson, Laura Morante, Suzanne Flon, Sydney Pollack
Synopsis:
A penniless, waif-like girl, whose principal weapon is her disarming optimism, charms a sexist cafe owner into giving her a job because, coincidentally, there is a concert, a play opening and an auction happening simultaneously on the same street in Paris that month. She then contrives to make the acquaintance of all the major players, endear herself and help straighten out their lives, before finally giving her grandmother the luxury overnight stay in a five-star hotel of which she has always dreamt and snapping the Prince Charming for herself.
Review:
It sounds intolerably schmaltzy told like that, but this is in fact only a small step away from the Bacri-Jaoui brand of wry observation in an artistic milieu. It is different, though, since it most definitely is out to charm us with its self-obsessed, ditzy, embattled characters, and that is exactly what it succeeds in doing pretty well. Amélie it is not (thank Heaven), but it is one of those rare French films that reassures us Paris is still a city in which romance and happiness can occur near a café terrace, and where being homeless is not a problem provided you are cute and resourceful.