Either I'm getting smarter or movies are getting dumber. I love Audrey Tatou and was really looking forward to watching another of her movies but this one was just not really...there. I couldn't even finish watching it.I thought it was original and interesting to have Jean be a burnout doing handy work but the res to the movie, well, I just couldn't really believe it. Emilie's mother follows Jean, rather closely, all the way from her house to the salon and the guy doesn't turn around even once. Her hair is disheveled, she's in a nighty and she's wearing no shoes, and yet nobody stares, not even a single glance. That simply does not happen in France. A few minutes after she walks out of the salon she goes back in and all the customers who were in the middle of getting their hair cut are suddenly gone. This sort of thing happened too often so I just lost interest.

Pierre Salvadori is too good a writer director to have to 'steal' from others but alas that's what's happened here - to a certain extent. Back in 1999 Tonie Marshall wrote and directed Venus Beaute' which centred on the Beauty Salon of the title and three of its employees, all looking for, rejecting and/or finding love. Nathalie Baye had the lion's share of screen time as the senior of the three employees, the other two being Mathilde Sagnier and a young actress who had caught Marshall's eye, Audrey Tautou, whom she cast as the youngest of the three. The film picked up several awards including no less than three Cesars (the French Oscars) for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Newcomer, Tautou. Now, eleven years later Salvadori casts Tautou as the owner of a hairdressing salon anxious to secure a love life for her mother, none other than Nathalie Baye. Technically Salvadori made two mistakes because Baye walks away with the picture from under the nose of the 'star' Tautou. To be fair Baye is one of the finest French actresses of her generation and has walked away with more pictures than Tautou has appeared in. Salvadori, of course, worked with Tautou on Hord de Prix (Priceless outside France) which scored at the box office despite a dubious premise which it really needed Billy Wilder to get away with. This time around Tautou is noticeably losing the bloom of youth which has been her stock in trade for so long - as well she might at 35 - and appears to be straining at times to look cute. On the other hand plots like this - mistaken identity involving romance - are mere finger exercises for French movie makers so there is a certain amount of charm and skill on display but the best thing about it by a country kilometre is Baye.

Pierre Salvadori is unfortunately really under-appreciated; he is a master in the class of Lubitch to whom he pays an ever-developing homage, it is just that, and here is my claim why, it is Lubitch crossed with lacanian psychoanalysis. This may seem extravagant, yet hear me out.In his previous feature, "Priceless", what was really, truly new in the genre of frothy french comedies, to call them that hazy category, is that the seduction usually displayed in a telling french manner, was turned on its head. The french theoretician of seduction Jean Baudrillard has devoted a whole book on this, the most sublime order that dares defy even desire in its heightening of ritual and artifice, to put it in a very abbreviated form.Yet Salvadori gave a coup to that: in the final spin of "Priceless" he exposed that you can seduce the other after your hesitating partner asked you so, and this is a proof of love; but this does not work the other way round. This is a great, dialectic demonstration of love. For me, it made me wonder, after such an achievement where would Salvadori go, for after such a score it is difficult to avoid artistic regression.Nothing to worry about, "Some True Lies" are here, giving us the next spin in the spiral, that is in order to love one has to seduce the other, but how literally is one to take this? Do I have to literally seduce your mother, the other par excellence, in order to get through to you? The cast is excellent (even though I think Tautou has slightly misconceived the tone she has to strike for her role), especially in the light of the excellent Bouajila and Bayer; they are truly something, some true actors.Some complain, or stand halfway to embarrassment that the film lacks class, and smells too much of TV production values; I was a bit shocked in the beginning, too, but the film is shockingly economic in a way, but when halfway in the film we witness the theater of shadows (I won't spoil it) this marks true sophistication, for the reason also that after that the film does not shy away from complexity but it is exactly then that the mother emerges in all her real, symbolic, imaginary faces and Bouajila follows the scenario's cue with finesse.Never vulgar, self-excusing or indulging, gracefully simple and cutting, this is a true achievement. I watched it twice in a row, fascinated by its crystal clear structure and magisterial, even haughty in the final chapter, rhythm, that risks go unperceived. The end, with its fake abruptness (which was a true celebration of the image of the mother cut loose at last), and the closing credits with its peculiar evocation of high-school french series from the nineties, verified in a way that this is a film we may have to catch up with in subtle departments.Thank you, monsieur Salvadori et merci.

Love seems especially beautiful when it happens in France, doesn't it? We've all imagined ourselves as the beautiful people headlining French movies like Amelie (2001), A Very Long Engagement (2004) and Priceless (2006). Is it just coincidence that the above-mentioned movies feature French cinema's darling Audrey Tautou? Here we have another romantic comedy starring the lovely starlet and her pixie crop.Tautou plays Emilie (probably paying homage to Amelie, the character which made the French star a household name), an owner of a hairdressing salon who receives a hand written love letter from a shy handyman. She dismisses the passionate letter at first, but when she realises that her mother is still distraught over the betrayal of her father, she decides to resend the letter to cheer the upset woman up. What follows is a series of misunderstandings and an awkward love triangle involving a man caught between two women who are mother and daughter. This is your usual French charmer, with a tried and test romantic comedy formula. You'd be chuckling instead of roaring in laughter at the setups and the occasional sexual innuendos, you'd be impressed with yourself (yet again) because you could see the ending coming one quarter into the 105 minute movie, and you'd have no problem sitting through this lightweight and accessible production where everyone, well, is a charmer.We are talking about the caricatured characters here, ranging from Tautou's smart alec but lovable protagonist, Nathalie Baye's (Catch Me If You Can) mother character who seems a little too hungry for sex, Sami Bouajia's (Days of Glory) handsome handyman, and other supporting roles written to provide additional laughs. This isn't exactly a bad thing though - the people in the world written by scriptwriter Benoit Graffin may lead everyday lives like ours, but there is something particularly charismatic about how they appear on screen. This makes us common folks desire for a lifestyle like theirs, and that's probably why everyone loves French cinema. Tautou and her signature bob does nothing new here, but still manages to have you siding with her idiosyncratic and quirky character. Baye steals the show as the mother whose love life is turned upside down after receiving a zealously written love letter. The actress manages to deliver a comical performance which provides the energy for the film. Bouajia isn't too bad either, as one can only imagine his frustration as he finds himself caught between two women. Supporting characters played by Stephanie Lagarde and Judith Chemla complete the likable ensemble cast. As this isn't a sweeping romance drama, you can expect standard production values (read: simple cinematography and simple art direction) which are more commonly found on TV movies. This, also isn't a bad thing, because your attention should be on the character's jesting and bantering.Director Pierre Salvadori, who also co penned the screenplay, is obviously hoping to repeat the success he enjoyed on Priceless five years ago, which also starred Tautou. A romantic comedy like this will be easily enjoyed by the masses, but it may also be conveniently filed into the category of "one of those" French comedies you've watched before.www.moviexclusive.com