La fille de Monaco (France)

[pro-bassoonist]

Set to be released on February 20th in France, courtesy of Warner,

Official site:
http://www.lafilledemonaco-lefilm.com/

FFC:

Her ringtone is a wolf whistle, her bedroom is decorated with Princess Di memorabilia, and she says things like "I feel orange." She's The Girl from Monaco. She's also a coarse variation on Sarah Jessica Parker's SanDeE* from L.A. Story (this time, it's she who does the weather), duking it out for the soul of lawyer Bertrand against his emotionally-involved bodyguard, Christophe. Bertrand (Fabrice Luchini) is in Monaco representing a suspected murderess (Stéphane Audran) in a case high-profile enough that the accused's wealthy son assigns Bertrand round-the-clock protection in the form of gentle giant Christophe (Roschdy Zem). But the biggest threat to lonely bachelor Bertrand, a doormat when it comes to the opposite sex, is Bertrand himself. Consequently, Christophe becomes his girl wrangler, going so far as to send one would-be stalker into a come coma on Bertrand's behalf. Thing is, Audrey (Louise Bourgoin) has already been there/done that with Christophe; a succubus built like a porn star, Audrey is the kind of problem you can only solve with a serpentine stretch of highway, Grace Kelly-style. (If you think I'm being tasteless, you should see the movie.) I feel like I'm missing out on some in-joke based on the fact that Bourgoin is a real-life weather girl, but her performance seems bravely-uninhibited for one that's implicitly self-referential. She sure does make an impression in any event for the McGuffin of a formulaic buddy comedy. Between this Anne Fontaine joint and Patrice Leconte's My Best Friend (another agreeable time-waster), it would appear that French filmmakers have just discovered said sub-genre, but they're not doing much to subvert it or innovate it as their CAHIERS DU CINEMA peers/precursors would have done.

Pro-B