Review of Priceless (2006) by Matthew W — 28 Jun 2008

GAMINE French actress Audrey Tautou has that mischievous face of insouciance which just absolutely lit up her signature role in 2001's quirky Amelie.

That quality was severely extinguished to criminal detriment in the dour The Da Vinci Code. Now, in charming, breezy Priceless, that instantly likeable look comes back into priceless full play once more as she exults in a range of playfulness which teeters between cool professional intent and silly-girl-in-love in a delightful two-person comedy act.

The other person is Moroccan-born actor Gad Elmaleh (Chouchou, The Valet), her accomplice in this romcom, who plays his part of follower and hankerer to an even more priceless level where he outshines Tautou herself.

They start out as strangers but end up as classic perfectly suited collaborators in a 1960s-style impish con game of love.

Tautou is Irene Mercier, a shameless golddigger who plies the playgrounds of the rich and elderly for a wealthy old man to set her up for life. Elmaleh is Jean Simon, a shy, lowly bartender who, for once in his life, is mistaken for somebody fancier.

In the tipsy lightness of the swanky hotel where they meet, with Jean's barman outfit resembling an affluent tux, Irene thinks that he is her ultimate passport to riches.

"I've left everything for you. Tell me I was right," she says to her newfound ticket after being dumped by her old one. Of course, it is a big mistake.

Before the first reel is over, she discovers, in a funny bedroom scene, that he is poorer that a cheap suit and is out on the carpet in a jiffy, towing her suitcases and golddigger's accessories. He, on the other hand, is smitten and cannot get her out of his mind.

Here, the movie takes off. The French are different. They like to partake in the pursuit of amour as a glorified parlour game, ideally acted out amid expensive cuisine, diamonds, dresses and exalted hotels where farce, fluff and fun converge in equal parts.

In the rarefied air of the splendid, rich man's seaside city of Nice, Irene and Jean scheme as accidental partners, she on her trail of sugar daddies, while he finds himself becoming the unintentional boy toy of rich old gentry.

A wealthy madam, Madeleine (Marie-Christine Adam), snags Jean as her escort for the price of a very expensive diamond-encrusted watch.

The winsome twosome stealthily compares notes - Irene urging Jean to "take it, take all you can right now" - with the student hilariously surpassing the teacher, before the realisation dawns, naturally, that the price of true love is no price at all.

It is an affair of light, whimsical piffle, but in director and co-writer Pierre Salvadori's hands, it is also an affair of cosy interplays, little interludes and sweet surprises which actually get funnier and more meaningful as the movie goes on.

As much as he understands cinematic humour - the way the bartender carries his tray becomes sweetly significant later - Salvadori understands that he has two marvellous actors who do not just spout lines.

They are masters of the art of facial expression. Tautou's big, naughty eyes turn her greedy motives into something endearing. Elmaleh's droopy, tentative peepers, looking constantly worried and jumpy as if saddled with an impossible 10-year plan, is a perfect foil for her elfin instincts.

I say this: Hollywood will remake this romcom. But it will not be able to make it this light, this fun and this priceless.