A bitter-sweet bit of French male fantasy, with enough wisdom and honesty to acknowledge there's a difference between fantasy and reality. Jacques is middle aged and lonely, having been dumped by his wife five months earlier. He responds by trying to behave as if he's fine, but his mess of an apartment tells otherwise. So he answers an ad for a housekeeper, and discovers the utterly sexy and adorable 20 year old Laura who gradually works her way past Jacques' emotional walls, into first his bed, and then, perhaps, his heart (why she'd fall for him is left a bit loose and hazy). What raises this above the familiar are the lovely performances by the two leads, and Berri's willingness not to try to make the film more than it is – a simple tale of two very different people finding each other for a brief moment in the journeys of their lives.

As i liked miss Dequenne in "Rosetta" a long time ago upon recommendation of a Greek friend, i picked this movie. But as her filmography was just beginning, i didn't get a lot of choices either.Actually, i realized that this movie could pass for my future as it tells the story of a sad mature single man in Paris. Outside his work, he has a very limited social life. His decision to hire a help woman leads him to find and use his love box and find happiness again.This speaks to me and thus the movie become personal. This was my town (paris), my life (loner), my trait (grumpy) but this was also my heart (generous). I think it was a great plot to have a break in country because it brings more light and more shine in their romance.A good french film, albeit it is forbidden for deaves with its lack of subtitles and the piano soundtrack is really horrible!

If Une Femme de Ménage (The Housekeeper) is, as some critics have said, a French soufflé, it was made with bitter-sweet chocolate. This somewhat rueful, somewhat ironic and generally good-natured film is the story of Jacques Gautier (Jean-Pierre Bacri), a middle-aged sound engineer in Paris whose wife has left him for another man. Gautier is a reasonably fit, attractive, balding man still coming to grips with living a life without a wife. His apartment is a mess. So he decides to hire a housekeeper, someone who will come in once a week and clean up after him. The woman who answers his ad is 20-year-old Laura (Emillie Dequenne) who, it turns out, has never been a housekeeper but who needs a job. If Jacques is the kind of man who hurries to clean up his apartment before the housekeeper arrives, Laura is the kind of young woman who cleans more or less well while wearing very short skirts and tops that allow for a generous decolletage. It's not long before Jacques decides, accurately, that he needs his apartment cleaned more often than once a week, and that Laura sees him as someone she could like a lot. In fact, it's not too long before she confides that she must leave the place she shares because she's splitting up. She has no place to move to. Before Gautier is quite aware of the consequences, Laura has accepted his invitation to temporarily stay with him. And before long, as well as cleaning the apartment, cooking the meals and ironing his clothes, she's sharing his bed. Gautier doesn't object, really, especially when the wife who left him, played grimly by Catherine Breillat, shows up at his door and tells him she'd like to come back. Gautier is wise enough to have none of that. When Jacques decides to get away and clear his head with a visit to an old friend on the Brittany coast, he suddenly finds Laura is accompanying him. For a 50-year-old man, having a 20-year-old lover has its advantages. Ah, but...when Laura wants to dance until midnight, Jacques begins to think about going to sleep at 10. When Laura sunbathes at the beach, Jacques remembers to wear his cap. When Laura urges him to go swimming in the ocean, Jacques can only think about how cold the water might be. When Laura enjoys her rock music at full volume, Jacques tries to listen to his classical music on low. The battle of the sexes combined with the battle of the generations was never more poignant. And when it's time to leave, and after Laura has taken to wearing Jacques' old wedding ring so that they can pretend to be married, Laura discovers a new truth. "In Paris I'm you're housekeeper. I feel good here. I want to stay." When Jacques says he must return to his job, Laura adds, "I've met someone." Poor Jacques. Is it with regret or relief that he finds himself sitting on the beach with Laura on one side and the mother of Laura's new friend on his other...the attractive mother who thinks Laura is Jacques' daughter. We know what Laura is going to do. Other than return to Paris, do we know what Jacques is going to do? Does Jacques know? For middle-aged men who think 20-year-old crumpets will bring new life and energy, they may want to avoid this movie. For everyone else, it's a pleasant and amusing excursion into rueful honesty. One of the reasons the movie works so well is the performance of Jean-Pierre Bacri. He's a fine actor with a face that can look skeptical, quizzical and thoughtful, as well as, in some of his movies, tough. He reminds me a little in looks of Michael Ironside. Watch him in Place Vendome; he keeps us guessing whether he's a tough guy or a sympathetic guy. Emillie Dequenne gives us an uneasily pleasant portrayal of a young woman who doesn't want to hurt anyone, but, after all, believes life is meant to be enjoyed as it comes. However, it's the women of Jacques' own age who make interesting impressions, even in small parts. While Breillat might make us think twice, she's a vivid presence. The actresses who portray Claire, an old friend of Jacques', and the mother of Laura's new best friend, give us portrayals of such attractive, friendly sophistication that we hope the next time around Jacques sticks with his own age.

A housekeeper, young and attractive, got into a relationship with her employer. It is because of her miserable situation of no where to stay? Or a true love happening? I doubt someone can give a clear answer. Maybe that's the nature of relationship. Something happens as it does.What a great movie although a little sort of somber with the artistic twist. Maybe that's the philosophy of life. There is something unexpected however we cannot do anything about it. Why not let us face it with smile... Forget about age of the characters. That is probably the shallow excuse to let those unexperienced people pretend they have understood what the director would like to deliver...Highly recommended for those are still hoping but have to face the fact that life is not merely what people can hope for.