robert-temple-1 This film (FAUTEILS D'ORCHESTRE being its original title) was also released as ORCHESTRA SEATS. It is a marvellously entertaining and amusing comedy with romantic overtones. Cécile de France is brilliant as the lead character, Jessica. She plays a naïve and under-educated provincial girl from Macon who comes to Paris with a guileless sprite-like personality and a captivating smile, and during a brief period as a waitress in a café manages to become embroiled in the lives of a series of highly sophisticated people. The main thrust of the film is really the contrast between simplicity and complexity in human personalities. The humour is gentle but also profound. The film is directed by Danièle Thompson, whose light directorial touch makes the film a success, and whose ability to tease the best out of her excellent cast makes the film glow with genuine humanity, pathos, and charm. Certainly it is one of the finest French comedies in many years, The film features Sydney Pollack as an American film director, Brian Sobinski, and is one of his last roles on screen before his death two years later. I believe I saw him credited as an executive producer, but that is not recorded under his entry in IMDb. The film was an Alain Sarde production, always a sure sign of quality. The actual producer was Christine Gozlan, so the film was really made by two women, which explains its sensitivity and gentleness. The screenplay was jointly written by Ms. Thompson and her son Christopher Thompson. There is an outstanding comic performance by Valérie Lemercier, and everyone else does very well also, including the small stone statue 'The Kiss' by Brancusi, which although silent, is nevertheless effective in a cameo appearance, inspiring a live couple to emulate its embrace, which would have amused the old peasant and made his beard shake with laughter.

nycmec The French have a term for a film this bad--un navet (a turnip). But turnips are much tastier than this tired, cliché-ridden mess of a film. I can handle a frothy film if it is done well, but this one is careless, with plot, with acting, with everything. Valerie Lemercier gets a couple of laughs as the aging TV serial star, but the conceit that Sydney Pollack would hire her character to play Simone de Beauvoir after viewing a couple of seconds of her absolutely mediocre TV series, plus some scenery-chewing in a Feydeau production, is absurd.The acting here involves lots of smiling (Cecile de France) and trying to look pensive (Albert Dupontel), but no subtlty, no nuance. The only joie de vivre really comes from the gardienne of the theater, who dances around to French pop songs she remembers from her days at L'Olympia. Everything about this film feels forced, especially the budding romance of Fred and Jessica--absolutely no chemistry whatsoever. If you're going to make a romantic comedy, you at least have to have that.Bottom line--a total waste of time.

ikanboy An oh so cute, naive, guileless, and somewhat ditsy mademoiselle from the sticks comes to Paris to follow her grandmother's advice and "push her way in" and see what happens. She lands a job as a waitress in a little café that never hires women. She is hired because the owner needs help during a trifecta of events about to take place near the café. A recital by a great pianist; an opening of a new play starring a famous daytime TV comedienne; and an auction of an art collector's works.As she waits on the customers, both in the café and in their work, she meets all three of the main players in the events. The poetic license taken is that all of these people would take time to chat; open up and share intimacies with our little gamine. But she is oh so cute, and oh so socially clueless, that she charms them. Through her meanderings we see all the stories of the main protagonists emerge. The pianist wants to quit formal recitals; feeling hemmed in by the pressure. The actress wants to break out of her "popular but shallow" roles; and the collector wants to sell off his possessions because he is dying and he needs the money for his last days with his mistress.In the end all of the loose ends are tied up and our heroine ends up with the son of the collector. It's all very pleasant, and at times earnest, stuff - but it is all so derivative and staged!

juliadebres I loved this movie! It is light and frothy, sure, but much more absorbing and entertaining than most of these intersecting lives type offerings. It is a slightly preposterous scenario, sure, but as the NZ Herald review said "The film is studded with smart, unshowy performances [...] that make the story's contrived nature virtually unnoticeable". The script doesn't miss a beat and the characters are all immensely appealing, some portrayed with a level of depth you wouldn't expect for the plot. It is funny too. I really think it raises the bar for this genre. Plus who can't fall for all the gorgeous shots of Paris? 100% enjoyment.