This movie is advertised as a "comedy," and in classic drama definitions that's what it is. But there's little more to be had in Avenue Montaigne than mild amusement and genuine admiration for Cecile De France, a young woman from the provincial city of Macon who takes a job as a waitress in a small restaurant on the Avenue to experience the wonders of this fancy neighborhood. Cecile is an absolute delight, and the subplots -- a famous soap opera actress seeking a role in a serious play; a famous classical pianist who wants to give up performing on the global circuit, and an art collector who started with nothing amassed a fortune in artistic masterpieces and is now auctioning it all off -- are well-executed. It's a very pleasant film, worth an evening. And although her character is perhaps too good to be true, I'm grateful to discover Cecile De France.

"Avenue Montaigne" is the English language title to this film though the French title is totally different. Why studios completely redo titles, I have not idea.The film is about a young woman who obtains a job at a restaurant directly across from an auction house and a performing arts center. Through the course of this film, this woman of humble origins manages to meet and get to know people who are the cream of the arts world. How she wanders into their lives and does tiny little things to help them reminds me a lot of the French film, "Amélie"--though in this case, often the help wasn't done intentionally and the humor far more subtle. It's exceptionally difficult to summarize or describe this film other than it's about this woman meeting others who are at crossroads in their lives.The acting, direction and production overall is lovely and subtle--not the sort of film most American audiences would like since there are no special effects or excitement, per se, but the film is fascinating and excellent for those who favor acting and substance over glitz. A nice film well worth a look.By the way, that IS Sydney Pollack as the American director "Brian Sobinski"--and why they didn't use his real name is beyond me since he was essentially playing himself.

Fauteuils d'orchestre (2006) directed by Danièle Thompson, was shown in the U.S. with the title "Avenue Montaigne." The U.S. title refers to the location of a bistro in Paris at which the protagonist, Jessica (Cécile De France), finds a job as waitress. Avenue Montaigne is the hub of the Parisian theater and art district. Naturally, the bistro serves actors, musicians, and artists, and Jessica (who is new to Paris) interacts with all of them .The movie contains three major plot lines, and some sub-plots as well. Jessica weaves into and through all of the plots, because her charming and disarming manner--and her waiter's uniform--give her access to everyone's world and, ultimately, everyone's life.The acting is solid enough, but not outstanding, with one exception. Valérie Lemercier plays a TV actor who stars as the mayor in a soap opera set in a small town. However, she's a serious actor, and wants to star in a serious play. Most directors would cast a classically beautiful actor in this role, but Ms. Thompson has chosen an actor who looks like a middle-aged provincial mayor. Casting against type like that takes courage, and I think the director's decision was a good one.The film isn't painful or unpleasant, but it's not worth a special trip either. You can't help liking Jessica, who looks and acts like a young Jean Seberg. Whether the other characters would react to her in life in the same way they do in the movie is debatable. Still, it's not biography--it's a fairy tale set in a magical street in Paris. You'll probably enjoy it if you see it for what it is. Just don't expect the movie that Robert Altman would have made using the same basic plot.

Young Jessica (Cécile de France), fresh from the countryside where she cared for her dying grandmother, arrives in Paris and immediately gets a job at a traditionally male-staffed café on Avenue Montaigne. There, she becomes involved in the personal and professional lives of the performers working nearby, including an I-want-to-get-away-from here- classical pianist named Jean-François (Albert Dupontel) a TV soap actress named Catherine (Valérie Lemercier) and other famous people stationed on the Avenue as well. Avenue Montaigne gets lost in its on foam and portrays a callous aesthetic with B-list actors from France trying to prove they're worth a damn. While it is an enjoyable premise that starts out great, the foam from that cappuccino overtakes your appetite and spoils it deeply. The film is as frothy as they come, a 1 hr. 45 min. trip into the heat of the avenue and the annoyances of the characters, finally culminating in a "script- writer- gone-bad" ending which has that loathsome smell of Hollywood.