Heartbreaker (2010)

Strong and Moving!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Another great - for its genre- french film. Like all good comedies it doesn't lack realism -even though some excessive elements are there too- and its intrigue is compelling enough to keep the viewer's strong interest from the very start to its end. What i mean is that this movie, being a comedy, is allowed to base its story on certain unreal background factors not having to fully explain or take that serious certain details of its script. And of course the viewer in turn shouldn't bother to analyze how f.ex, far as this very film is concerned, one is so easily supposed to that perfectly be able to stage fake situations -making them look real- in order to influence people's minds about their love choices! Yet, unrealistic elements are always part of a comedy film if only they serve as background of the main story-line, Just like in a science fiction story a lot it is about is fiction and given this the realism of the main story is separately to check out. Given all this, I would have given ten -bright- stars to this brilliant film and to its intriguing main story-line if its very ending was not that Hollywood typical cliché like, which i think takes away a part of the film's otherwise sincere approach to the situation it describes, given of course the genre it belongs to.Yet this is not enough to spoil the overall good vibes it gives.

Suppose your best friend is about to marry the wrong guy, but she has convinced herself that she's happy with him. What can you do? Call the Heartbreakers, a company in the business of seduction, the best when it comes to breaking up ill-fitting relationships.The Heartbreaker team is comprised of master seducer Alex, his sister, and her husband; and together, the quirky trio spies on their subject, finds the flaws in the relationship, and develops an elaborate sabotage plan.This time the assignment is Juliette, the confident daughter of an overprotective French millionaire. Juliette, played by Vanessa Paradis (Mrs. Johnny Deep), is about to marry a rich, kind, and handsome Brit; and the Heartbreakers have only a few days to convince the strong-willed Juliette to break the engagement.Filmed against the backdrop of the French Riviera, the cinematography is a delicious treat, but the ingenious script and the spirited performances are the two winning elements of the movie.The script is a smart hybrid between a romantic comedy and a light spy thriller, and it will have you laughing out loud from beginning to end. And while the finale is somewhat predictable, the twists in the plot will have you wondering how it's all going to unravel.As far as performances, the suave Duris is superb as he charms the ladies, and he and Paradis show a decent amount of chemistry on screen. The supporting cast is also brilliant, especially Julie Ferrier (who plays Alex's sister) and François Damiens (Alex's brother-in-law).Don't wait for the American remake; watch this original version, because--like its hero--is stylish, clever, and simply hard-to-resist! It's everything a romantic comedy should be; truly satisfying!

HeartBreaker is a wonderful film to watch; to spend an afternoon in a darkened theatre with a companion you love, one who is familiar with the beautiful places visited as backdrops to this engaging film. The people involved are all actors of effortless grace regarding their seemingly effortless immmersion in the modestly complex plot. This plot is something that would need to be worked out in a non-English culture: a culture for which the old tenants of behaviour still hold some sway. I cannot imagine any of what happened on the screen taking place in an English speaking country but perhaps that speaks more of my nativity than anything about the script. The two main actors, Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis, play their roles consummately as does everybody else in this delightful film. The Set Director did a wonderful job by bringing the viewer virtually into the film because the sets and locations were so phenomenal. You owe it to yourself to see this film.

It is perhaps impolitic to say so, but Vanessa Paradis may just have the ugliest set of teeth to blight the mouth of any leading actor, French or otherwise, in the 100 year history of cinema. I mention this not to be cruel, but to highlight one of the fundamental problems with this movie, which is namely - its leading lady looks like a hastily costumed, warmed-up corpse. An avid observer of French cinema might shrug this off as an irrelevancy, but for a populist movie with ambitions to appeal to a broader, Anglophile audience, it is no small detail that the purported object of desire in a movie framed as a "romantic comedy" is frankly, pretty undesirable. Ms Paradis is no doubt a woman of many fine qualities and abilities, but it is apparent in her performance that she is either acutely self-conscious of - or has been directed to avoid - showing her teeth. This limits her facial expression to the degree that her character in the movie is utterly devoid of any warmth or other noticeable, agreeable signs of humanity. This issue is further compounded by a trite and mostly unfunny script, throughout which Ms Paradis and the rest of the ensemble look constipated. I'm pretty sure that's not just a French thing, either. This is a film to be avoided at all costs. If you find the concept of the movie too compelling to resist, at least wait for the English language remake due any time soon, which by rights could only improve on this Gallic disaster.