Priceless.

One of my fonder and funnier movie memories, videotaped some years back off the French channel TV 5, is of a film called Cible émouvant (Wild Target, 1993), about a nearly-over-the-hill hit man (the great Jean Rochefort) with mother problems and a parrot, who befriends and then trains a couple of novice assassins (played by Guillaume Depardieu and the late Marie Trintignant). Wanting to share this little gem with film-loving friends, I did - until I finally lost track of the tape. Some years later, I took equal though different delight in another French comedy from the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema series, this one managing to snag a brief theatrical release: Après Vous (2003), starring Daniel Auteuil, Sandrine Kiberlain and José Garcia. Now, I've just seen a new film titled Priceless, starring the still-hot-post-Amélie Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh (better here than in last year's by-the-book The Valet). All three films are directed by Pierre Salvadori, a filmmaker who creates smart, funny, quirky comedies and is, perhaps, due for an upgrading by America's critical establishment.

Updated through 4/1.

Salvadori discovers much of his humor in the collision between the workplace and life/love. In Cible émouvant, it's the world of the assassin; in Après Vous it's restaurants and florists; in Priceless, we're keeping company with, well, let's call them high-class whores: Tautou and Elmaleh are both "kept" by their very rich paramours. This off-kilter, non-mainstream environment (Après Vous also features a would-be suicide) may account for why American critics and audiences have not quite embraced Salvadori. Yet I find his work, which combines elements of farce and social commentary, just unusual enough to be odd and bracing - as well as often very funny. Also, these three films do not easily bring to mind other French comedies: They're originals. If not great, they are still good enough.

Priceless - a smart title because it immediately calls to mind certain credit card commercials, our consumer society, and the idea of price versus value - also boasts some gorgeous sets and locations (posh hotels on the southern coast of France) and two splendid performances from its charming lead actors. Tautou is always better in roles that call for a little bitchiness and nuance, rather than the non-stop, poopsy-cute of Amélie (by the end of that film, I wanted nothing so much as to slap the character clear across the room - and, really, I am not a violent person.). Emaleh's work, too, is superior to what he did in The Valet. His sudden, automatic reversions from kept boy to waiter are, well, priceless. He manages to show a surprising amount of thought, intelligence and feeling behind what initially looks like a blank stare. The older, richer, in-charge generation is given its due via the performances of Vernon Dobtcheff and especially Marie-Christine Adam, who brings the necessary strength and sadness to her role.

Salvadori is a smart director who knows how to use objects cleverly and economically for maximum effect. Note the little "drink" umbrellas (early on, and also in the title credits) and the coin that pops up just often enough. His movie explores - always with a light touch - love and commerce, the "fronts" we put on to attract others, and how we innately use and are used. And if Priceless is not quite up to the level of Après Vous (it may be; I'll have to see it again), it's certainly worth a visit. Just a tad long, it goes a bit slack during the last half hour. But considering how much fun it is, the fabulous location photography (courtesy of Gilles Henry), and its occasionally incisive take on "love for sale," it's a fine evening out.

"Pierre Salvadori's re-imagining (read: vulgarization) of Breakfast at Tiffany's, wears its contempt on its sleeve," writes Ed Gonzalez in Slant. "It's hard to say what's worse, the film's ageism and condescension for the peculiar ways of the rich or that few stories have ever asked audiences to care for characters as loathsome and feebly redeemed as Irene and Jean, but this much is clear: an American remake seems inevitable, assuming that Michael Douglas, Catherine-Zeta Jones, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore's schedules are all free."

"Unlike American formula romances, which simply assume that glamour and riches come with the territory, co-writer/director Pierre Salvadori makes explicit how gold-digging undermines both parties," writes Vadim Rizov in the Voice. "Then everyone lives happily ever after regardless, which is even more cynical."

"[T]he movie is an amusing ball of fluff that refuses to judge its characters' amoral high jinks," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times. "Winking at the vanity of wealthy voluptuaries and hustlers playing games of tainted love, it heaves a sigh and says welcome to the human comedy. Because its shenanigans are so improbable, Priceless is too frivolous even to be called satire."

"The film's contrivances are many, and its endless pimping of the Euro-chic lifestyle soon enough begs for a Robin Leach voice-over," writes Steve Dollar in the New York Sun. "What's fascinating, however, is Ms Tautou's commitment to her performance, which subverts the screen persona to which most American audiences are accustomed. Irène is mean, venal, shallow, faithless, materialistic, and corrupt - obviously, a great character to play, made sympathetic because a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. And so does a guy. Priceless won't survive deeper scrutiny, even from those who are likely to palpitate over its every Tautou-soaked frame. It's a date-night confection: a cupcake, with caviar frosting."

"The ups and downs of this odd couple's love affair are a pleasure to watch," writes Marcy Dermansky, "the Riviera is unfaillingly gorgeous, the jokes flirt with slapstick, and Audrey Tautou looks mighty fine tramped up in ridiculously low cut couture dresses."

"While the publicity's focus is on Tautou, an actress Americans immediately recognize (she also starred in an art-house flick called The Da Vinci Code), Priceless belongs to her co-star, Gad Elmaleh, who lends the film the bulk of its charm, originality and genuine humor," writes Raphaela Weissman in the New York Press.

"Priceless is better acted and a smidgen more sophisticated than your average Hollywood comedy, if also more cheaply made," writes Salon's Andrew O'Hehir. "As in Salvadori's last film, Après Vous, there's an acrid, manic, almost mean-spirited quality to the comedy that seems distinctively French. (And I mean that in the best possible way.)"

The Los Angeles Times' Carina Chocano is glad to find Priceless "unencumbered by American squeamishness about less-than-innocent women.... [T]he unadulterated joy Irène takes in throwing open the closet door to show Jean how this gold digging is done is positively infectious."

Update, 4/1: Sara Cardace talks with Tautou for the Vulture.

Posted by dwhudson at March 28, 2008 1:39 PM