What I did not realise when watching this was the fact that this is the third in a long running trilogy with the films 'Pot Luck' and 'Russian Dolls' being the previous films all directed by Cedric Klapisch.When reading of this revelation after I viewed the film, it made perfect sense as to why there were pictures of the characters in three stages of ageing in the opening credit sequence and why there are characters who drop into the film suddenly like we are supposed to know them. However, as a person who did not see the two previous films, I did get to know the many characters quite well and I did care about them in what I thought was a surprisingly enjoyable film.Romain Duris stars as Xavier, a man whose relationship with Wendy (Kelly Reilly) ends. Wendy meets a man in New York and takes the children with her. Xavier makes a snap decision to move to New York to be with his kids. He initially stays with his lesbian friend Isabelle (Cecile De France) who moved to New York to be with her lover, Ju (Sandrine Holt), who is also having an affair with her babysitter who is also named Isabelle (Flore Bonaventura). Also, Xavier's past lover, Martine (Audrey Tautou) keeps dropping into New York for work related reasons and meets up with Xavier a few times. Could they start to re-kindle what they had before?The great thing about Chinese Puzzle is it's portrait of New York which it shows in all it's racial and sexual diversity, but not feeling forced or annoyingly politically correct. It felt more like this is the reality of New York being the crowded and multi cultural city that it is. It is refreshing to see New York portrayed in that way as opposed to post card aesthetics used by many, especially Woody Allen. It also shows the difficulties Xavier faces trying to stay in New York and fitting into a strange city. He meets interesting people, gets cash in hand jobs as his holiday visa deems it illegal for him to be in employment, and he gets married to an Asian-American girl in order to stay in the country. It is compelling to watch his character settle in, develop and grow in his new place of residence and how he gets involved with the main characters around him in these intertwining stories. The stories were interesting and it had me routing for the characters, who despite their flaws, are genuinely believable and likable characters. What did end up annoying me about the film was the fact that it went for the cliché narrative-within-a-narrative structure. While the story is unfolding, Xavier is writing a book about his experiences and his agent is commenting on his ideas. When the story threads culminate into a last minute dash to get the girl who is taking a bus out of New York for good, the agent comments on how the ending is too happy and cliché. For me, this self awareness is worse than just having the cliché ending. For the most part, it was enjoyable and it meant well.Check out my film review blog - www.projectionistreview.wordpress.com

Audrey Tautou and Romain Duris might not reach the heights of Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, or the lighter, more down-to-earth "Four Weddings and a Funeral"... "Chinse Puzzle" is neither ultra-sophisticated or really funny, but it is amusing, with a different perspective for romantic comedies, giving us a rawer and truly different take on the way men and women understand each other. For starters, where do you go after being together for ten years with a woman from another country? You just jump on the first plane and cross the ocean! It's at this moment you leave all sense of logic behind because a seemingly successful writer in Paris becomes an apparently broken foreigner who must find some contrived maneuvers to survive in the Big Apple. I guess they needed some color and a bit of a "ethnic" atmosphere here. I think it would have been easier just to keep matters simple. The different relationships would have worked on their own, mostly on the chemistry of the principal cast. However, if our hero has to struggle, then we can bring INS in and really complicate things.Xavier is best friends with a lesbian, but he and his wife can't truly communicate, break up and somehow it is better when they're apart. The dialogue feels very strange when it's not even a combination of languages, but like seeing two people failing to communicate in a UN meeting. The children never speak English? What's the deal with writer's block, too? Throw in donating sperm for the lesbian couple, marrying a Chinese woman to stay in N.Y., and you come up with something entertaining, but that still feels half-cooked.With all these obstacles, it would seem impossible to like what appears to be a mess, but all the actors are very appealing, and there's something fresh about seeing French actors struggle in N.Y. They are always so sophisticated, dressed impeccably in the latest fashions, and here they are confused, emotionally unstable, not unleashing sophisticated charm on us, but appearing vulnerable and very likable.Tautou shines in her pedestrian outfits, even when she gets a dynamite scene dealing with a Chinese magnate and proves she is a formidable actress. She's lovely as she ages and shows her flaws. Cecile De France approaches her relationship in an aggressive but still appealing way. She's just free. It's also cool to have an ex-partner in a legal meeting who is not tearing the other apart. The only bad guy here appears to be the INS agent, but even he looks pretty understanding in the end.It's cool to see N.Y. from the immigrant's point of view, without drowning the story in sadness and tragedy or just making it too fluffy. Yes, it might be contrived, but it's still like a French soufflé, enjoyable and light, and maybe forgettable quite soon.

This movie really surprised me. Having loved L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE and connecting with the characters and then re-connecting with them in fun- filled Russian DOLLS, I was expecting the third film to slowly wind down their stories. After all, the characters are boring grown ups now, with kids and responsibilities, so how much more fun can they be. But to my surprise, this film was just as much fun, was just as full of joy and energy as the first films, Having lived a life pretty close to the age of these characters, I felt an even deeper connection with these characters in this film. True, their lives have become much more complicated, but their stories have become richer, their worldview bigger and their lives deeper and so much more meaningful. Klapisch uses many of the same devices, many similar situations that made the first films memorable, but because the central characters are now so well fleshed out, we journey with these characters as fellow travelers, not only thru New York City (as we did in Barcelona and St. Petersburg) but thru life. I hope this is not the end of the series. It would be a wonderful to travel to more places with these characters and wonder where Klapisch will take them (and us) next.

* Warning: Spoilers. Also, I went and saw this film without first having seen the trailer. I recommend you not watch the trailer before you see this film if you don't want to know anything. *First of all, I think the title of the film is genius. Literally, it means Chinese "broken head" which is translated into "Chinese Puzzle", ie it's a puzzle that drives you so crazy it breaks your head. It is obvious they wanted to keep the theme of having an adjective related to a country/culture - Spanish youth hostel, Russian dolls, Chinese puzzle... The only difference is this time no part of the film is set in China. If you google "casse tête chinois" it's one of those wooden puzzles where all the pieces have to fit together in the right way and in the right order. Xavier (Romain Duris), now 40, says his life is a mess and he wonders how he got to this point, where the pieces are obviously NOT in the right order nor in the right place. He recounts his touching, funny and personal story over the past few years through Skype interviews with his book publisher (he is writing a book based on his life).I have seen the first two films but it has been so long ago that I cannot remember the story lines. It is not necessary IMHO to have seen them but it would help you have a deeper understanding of the main characters and their development. Fans of either the first two films will be delighted to see the actresses Audrey Tautou, Cécile De France and Kelly Reilly reprise their roles as Martine, Isabelle and Wendy. I felt that maybe the director (Cédric Klapisch) wanted to capitalize on the success and popularity of Audrey Tautou with foreigners by putting her in the film as much as possible. In the first few minutes of the film the protagonist mentions going from point A to point B in life. What I feel is that life is so easy in your 20s (their ages in the first film) where everybody starts at the same point, at point A. In your 30s people's lives tend to go down different paths, marriages, singledom, divorces, kids or no kids, gay/lesbianism, there is no one set path and nobody can predict what will happen in your life from your late 20s onwards. I guess the film is trying to show that it's OK not to have a 'perfect' life and that there are happy relationships of all different kinds.Apart from the main topic of romantic relationships, the film also briefly touches on parent-child relationships and features Xavier's children but also his parents in 2 short separate scenes. I don't feel that these scenes would have been missed if taken out but I am glad they were in there because when you get to the age where you have kids or 'should be' having kids you think about your own parents a lot, their relationship with each other and to you. The scene with his father was really sweet but I won't give it away what it was.And so, Xavier is now married to Wendy (and has been for the past 10 years) and has 2 children with her. Their relationship is on the rocks and one day Wendy announces she has met a new man in New York and wants to move there, immediately, with the children. Xavier, therefore, has no choice but to give up his life in Paris and to join them in New York to stay in regular contact with his young children.This brings up a whole new set of problems for him such as finding housing, slight language issues, finding a job, how to stay in the country legally for a long period of time... as someone who has moved overseas (several times) I found this aspect highly interesting and it shows the young people these days, are more than ever, globally mobile and willing to overcome hardships and obstacles in an effort to start a new life elsewhere.There are many new characters and actors introduced into this third film of the trilogy and together they create an interesting patchwork for the plot. There are also many Chinese (Chinese American) characters in this film and Chinatown is featured often too, strengthening the multiple meanings behind the title. There is also a hilarious scene where Audrey speaks Chinese.I won't go on much further other than to say that it's a much see! 10/10 for me. If you enjoyed the previous two in the series, or enjoy films that you can really relate to, full of funny, sweet and poignant moments, this is definitely one not to miss.