Only the French could get away with such an old-fashioned charmer.
Charming slice of small-town France.
Please use the link to reference this article. Do not copy & paste articles which is a breach of FT.com's Ts&Cs (www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms) and is copyright infringement. Send a link for free or email ftsales.support@ft.com to purchase rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/2fb6ab94-ece3-11df-88eb-00144feab49a.html#ixzz14vWFX0vk Gisèle Casadesus as the biddy and Depardieu as the lunkhead guide us towards their own unshowy truth.
You really will need a sweet tooth for this one.
A pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
It’s as simple but nourishing as one of Germain’s bulging baguettes, though with perhaps more sugar than is really good for you.
This is a featherweight French fancy, lent a little class by the two leads but not really fooling anyone.
It radiates optimism and good cheer and celebrates the power of words without ever getting pretentious or heavy-handed.
With a sermon where the plot should be, even at 82 minutes, this film feels less like an afternoon and more like a very long week and a half.
Waddles along amiably and then ends unforgivably.
Depardieu and Casadesus make a sweet enough pair to ensure this is pleasantly diverting, even if the addition of a circle of drinking buddies with subplots that go nowhere makes this is seem more like an hour-long TV drama padded out to feature length.
It's a charming, sentimental, well-acted movie, and any readers' group would want to make an outing to see it.
It's all too mild and cosy to get very excited about.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
RSS feed of Cinema reviews