Finally got back to the cinema (was supposed to see Gone Baby Gone last weekend but may see it this week, relying on other people), this time for Audrey Tautou's latest film to be released here, Hors de prix. The set up of the plot is Gad Elmaleh (so wonderful as Pignon in The Valet) works at a hotel and one night when supposed to be behind the bar, the golddigging Tautou mistakes him for a rich man. They make use of the Imperial Suite for the night and Audrey is gone by sunrise. The film then follows the shenanigans a year later where they get together again but her sugar daddy dumps her when he finds out.
This is a nice little film, Elmaleh is wonderfully natural and provides the bulk of the laughs as his sweet, helpless, naive man gets drawn into playing Audrey at her own game by becoming a gigolo to an older woman. Audrey is on top form and an added bonus is it's the first time I've seen her be *sexy* rather than merely "cute" for the best part of a decade (Venus Beauty Salon being probably the only other time).
It's not a relentless laugh-out-loud comedy, but it's very silly and is consistently entertaining. It also gets better the longer it goes with the laughs coming more frequently the further into the film you get. By the time Elmaleh is in full gigolo mode the film really takes off but there is probably about 10 minutes or so of exposition they might have got rid of to tighten up the film and get into the meat of it as quickly as possible.
In the trailer there was a comparison with Breakfast at Tiffany's (not a film I care for by any stretch of the imagination) and I can see why, in that there it was the whore and the gigolo (albeit toned down) and here it's not too far off though. Difference here and why I liked this particular film more was the characters were much more likeable (probably because they're funny) and the performances and chemistry rang true more. Not an amazing cinematic masterpiece, but a very nice way to spend a couple of hours.