L'Arnaceour (Heartbreaker) 2010

Director:

Pascal Chaumeil

                           

Writers:

Laurent Zeitoun (screenplay)

Jeremy Doner (screenplay)

Yohan Gromb (screenplay)

                

                                                        
            When it comes to French movies, we cannot help ourselves but to expect a lot and much more than that, no matter what the genre is. Therefore it's not surprising we were eagerly awaiting this one. The French are mostly inspiring and original in making films. Their movies are the total opposition of typical Hollywood ones. Does this romantic comedy named Heartbreaker affirm the thesis?

Plot story: Alex Lippi, his sister and sister's husband are running this unusual business of breaking the relationships. The thing is getting complicated when they are hired by the wealthy man to break his daughter's relationship only ten days before her marriage with Englishman Jonathan.

          Not so original idea? Indeed. Though French, this movie looks like the remake of many similar, previously done Hollywood rom-coms. Usually it's the French movies that are being remade by Hollywood, but it's hard to believe that this one will suffer from such fate. (overwhelmingly reminds of Chasing Liberty, and not exclusively because of the plot).
Director Pascal Chaumeil did a terrific job of making this film an enjoyable experience and not a pain in the neck. It's very watchable with a presence of slapstick humor and there are no boring scenes. The setting of the movie is mostly in Monaco but all the other locations are also breathtaking from the very beginning making it visually effective.
        
          He sings in a church choir, he is a culinary expert, he washes windows... One can see from the start that Alex (Romain Duris) is a benevolent person, without a strict set of goals in life. He owns the rebel's charm but, ironically, he is not a womanizer. His job is to help miserable women and to open their eyes but he never goes further from the first base. Since Alex has fallen into debt, he accepts to seduce rich Juliette (Vanessa Paradis, beautiful French actor, also known as Johnny Depp's significant other- damn that lucky, lucky girl :P by Liz) though she seems to be happy with a man without blemish- Jonathan Alcott (Andrew Lincoln).

     
                 Here we encounter the typical motive of the basic intolerance, as it is usually the case.(like in already mentioned Chasing Liberty, or The Ugly Truth, No Reservations, etc.) and in order to change that, ingenious Alex, starts to play her bodyguard and makes everything possible to melt her cold heart. This includes adoring George Michael (that must have been painful), learning how to dance just as Patricky Swayze did in ''Dirty Dancing'' (he surely owns an exceptional talent learning it in few days) , eating Roquefort etc. You've seen that before? Nooo way :D

              We don't take it as spoiler when we say that during the movie chemistry developed between the two (it's very clear from the plot story) and Juliette is releasing her real self with the rebel Alex which was not possible with her stuffy fiancee. Sounds cheesy, but it's not the Roquefort we're talking about.
             The movie is full of cliches and you have a feeling that you know every next line that is about to be pronuonced, but it still manages to be charming and heartwarming because of hilarious situations and great acting. Surely one won't see anything new or inspiring, but Heartbreaker is perfect for relaxing after a hard day. Recently, and also this year, there is a lack of a good rom-coms with the charming spirit of 90's, but this one is the total opposition so it's surely not an excess in this industry. This one will cheer up anyone who likes good old romantic comedies because it's almost flawless  in its category.

Ratings:
Liz: 7,5/10
Kyle:6/10