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Priceless review
:. Director: Pierre Salvadori
:. Starring: Gad Elmaleh, Audrey Tautou
:. Running Time: 1:43
:. Year: 2006
:. Country: France
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Maybe it's because it's supposed to be the most romantic nation - I know some of you who might laugh at this assumption --, but France is usually a safe bet when it comes to romantic comedies.
What the French bring to that genre is a touch of fuzziness and depravity, which contrasts with the cheesiness of Hollywood productions and, in the process, even creates appealing elements for male spectators -- of course, seeing Audrey Tautou in a negligee might also contribute to this newfound male fascination for romantic comedies.
Priceless seems to belong to a new sub-genre about gigolos finding love on the French Riviera, as it followed only a few months after the release of another French film on the theme, Quatre Etoiles. Both films are also built on the unlikely acting tandem of a stand-up comic with a French cutie, Gad Elmaleh & Audrey Tautou here, José Garcia & Isabelle Carré in Quatre Etoiles. While this is certainly disturbing, what's more surprising is that both films work, mostly thanks to the charisma of their cast, some amusing moments and the glamorous background of the French Riviera.
Tautou plays a gold-digger who gets duped by a hotel bartender (Elmaleh) and then tries to get back at him until love brings them together. Nothing revolutionary or Oscar-worthy here, but the script by writer/director Pierre Salvadori - who penned it here in LA - has enough fun with his characters and his setting that you can't help falling under its charm, which is all you should expect from this kind of film, when it works.
Fred Thom
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