A naïve and mistaken bartender is seduced by a beautiful gold-digger in the French romantic-comedy PRICELESS. Jean, a bartender at a prestigious hotel, passes out on one of the hotel lounge’s loveseats and is awoken by Irene, a gorgeous gold digger whose sugar daddy is also passed out. Irene mistakes Jean for a wealthy visitor, and after sharing more than a few drinks, the two leave their inhibitions aside and share a one-night stand. Jean wakes up the next morning alone in bed, and it isn’t until exactly one-year later, that Irene returns with another wealthy and elderly boyfriend by her side. This doesn’t seem to sway Jean. 
Complete with laughs, chemistry and genuine romantic tension and suspense PRICELESS delivers an old fashioned style romance, with a touch of naughtiness. The achievement by writer-director Pierre Salvadori isn’t as much the subtle humor, or sophisticated and mannered game that the players play with love and dollars, but the unorthodox screenplay that breaks from convention, and delivers because of it. Most of, if not all Hollywood scripts would have relied on the star power to deliver the goods, and would have dragged out the mistaken identity through the fifth or even sixth reel of the movie. PRICELESS dispenses, quite naturally, with this cliché early on and assuredly delivers a storyline that is just as rewarding and much more plausible. This isn’t to say that the star power isn’t there. Audrey Tautou not only resembles Audrey Hepburn, but her Irene is Holly Golightly incarnate, and Tautou gives a performance that can stand up to Hepburn’s. Gad Elmaleh has just as tricky a job as Jean, and walks a acting tight rope, keeping his character from veering into complete schmuck while still remaining likable. PRICELESS plays the cat and mouse contest between Jean and Irene just right, tackling matters of the heart with both intellect and emotion. Although it doesn’t live up to it’s far-reaching title, PRICELESS is definitely worth the price of admission.
No comments:
Post a Comment