ROMANTIC COMEDY; 1hr 17min (French with subtitles)
STARRING: Benoît Poelvoorde, Isabelle Carré
Odd couple: Poelvoorde and Carré
Mouse-timid master chocolate maker Angélique (Carré) and her secretly anxious new boss, Jean-René (Poelvoorde), have infinitely more in common than either of them originally realises. He is in desperately needed — and not notably successful — therapy for confidence and intimacy issues. She attends a self-help group for the emotionally challenged that appears to be the highlight of her week. Terrified to embrace life, they cower in its margins. Could this be neuro-Euro comedy’s latest ideal couple?
Maybe not. Drawn to Angélique despite himself, funster Jean-René asks her out as a therapy exercise: their first dinner together is every excruciating date that anybody has ever endured, with him repeatedly seeking refuge in the bathroom before bolting from the restaurant altogether. What a terrible state of affairs! Director and co-writer Jean-Pierre Améris keeps things short and fittingly sweet, however: Angélique and Jean-René are unthreatening eccentrics, their limitations more quirkily appealing than seriously crippling and the resolution of them a done deal from the outset. But how unromantic to complain!
