Who's in It: Cécile de France, Christopher Thompson, Claude Brasseur, Albert Dupontel, Laura Morante, Valérie Lemercier, Sydney Pollack
The Basics: Privileged, high-strung, arty French people get mixed up in each other's lives, fall in and out of love, crash high society, drop out, strive for status, act stupidly, resent their elderly parents and feel insecure about, well, everything. They don't have to worry about second-generation Algerian teenagers rioting and setting their cars on fire — clearly — so they're free to use their time obsessing about their upper-class problems.
What's the Deal? Think old-school Woody Allen but French. Director Danièle Thompson has her own idiosyncratic take on Allen's vintage, too-smart-for-his-own-good-ness neuroses. She's more rueful than he is — less wacky, which is nice. And every once in a while, it's fun to get a peek into the lives of the impossibly self-absorbed bourgeoisie.
Not as Good As: La Bûche, Thompson's Christmas-themed comedy released here in 2001. For starters, this one doesn't have Charlotte Gainsbourg in it, but still, it ain't bad. Meanwhile, you Francophiles won't care what I think either way; you'll go see it just because it's in French. I know you. I'm one of you. And this one is very sort of lowest-common-denominator, too. Lots of shots of the Eiffel Tower. It's like eating a Nutella crêpe under the Arc de Triomphe.
One Thing I Dig About French Actors: They have this whole funny thing of actors going by one name like "Miou-Miou" and "Arletty." This movie has "Dani," and she plays a French-pop-music-obsessed woman. Seriously, that place is just more fun. Also Socialist and skinny but still fun.
And Suddenly, Bam! There's Sydney Pollack: He's a friend of Thompson's (and has also acted for Allen), and he plays an American director. I know, way to stretch those acting muscles, Pollack.