Pierre Salvadori made an impressive directorial debut with the outrageous 'Wild Target' in 1993. Although his films have became less anarchic through the years, he has never lost his sense of quirkiness which makes his foray into the genre of the 'rom-com' so intriguing.
Given what is probably his biggest budget to date and a glamorous setting, he has wisely maintained a tempo that is lento throughout which helps his characters to develop, thereby enabling his film to avoid the shallowness that so often afflicts others of this type.
None of the characters is a cipher and Salvadori's casting is spot on. Vernon Dobtcheff and Jacques Spiesser as sugar daddies, Marie-Christine Adam as a sugar mummy and Annalise Hesme as a gold digger.
The lynchpin is the on/off relationship between the unassuming barman of Gad Elmaleh and wondrous Audrey Tautou as the hotel hooker. The chemistry between them is palpable and there is little doubt of course that despite their misadventures, they are destined to be together. Monsieur Elmaleh had played a hapless valet in his previous film and has gone one better here whilst Mlle Tautou had gone from strength to strength following her César as most promising newcomer in 'Venus Beauty Institute'. Their pairing is inspired and unsurprisingly the film proved a huge hit.
I would hazard a guess that this piece has been made with a view not only to the home market but also to appeal to North American audiences which probably accounts for the fact that it has attracted more IMDb reviews than most of this director's earlier films put together.
Given what is probably his biggest budget to date and a glamorous setting, he has wisely maintained a tempo that is lento throughout which helps his characters to develop, thereby enabling his film to avoid the shallowness that so often afflicts others of this type.
None of the characters is a cipher and Salvadori's casting is spot on. Vernon Dobtcheff and Jacques Spiesser as sugar daddies, Marie-Christine Adam as a sugar mummy and Annalise Hesme as a gold digger.
The lynchpin is the on/off relationship between the unassuming barman of Gad Elmaleh and wondrous Audrey Tautou as the hotel hooker. The chemistry between them is palpable and there is little doubt of course that despite their misadventures, they are destined to be together. Monsieur Elmaleh had played a hapless valet in his previous film and has gone one better here whilst Mlle Tautou had gone from strength to strength following her César as most promising newcomer in 'Venus Beauty Institute'. Their pairing is inspired and unsurprisingly the film proved a huge hit.
I would hazard a guess that this piece has been made with a view not only to the home market but also to appeal to North American audiences which probably accounts for the fact that it has attracted more IMDb reviews than most of this director's earlier films put together.