Priceless

First Hit: This was both fun and serious and worth the price of admission.

Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh did a wonderful acting job to make this film thoroughly enjoyable with a slight edge of seriousness thrown in for good measure.

Audrey plays Irene a woman who finds wealthy men, sleeps with them and is rewarded with baubles and goodies. What she is looking for is one of them to marry her so that she will be “set for life”.

The film begins with her receive a gift from one of her targets on her birthday and despite the day of celebration, he falls asleep early and she is left in the room wondering what to do. Bored and hurt she wanders down stairs to the hotel bar and meets Jean (Gad Elmaleh).

She mistakes him for another rich guest and not the bartender he is. He doesn't tell her and they end up getting drunk together. They slip into one of the rooms and spend the night.

Jean is immediately smitten and realizes Irene isn’t going to even look at him if she finds out he’s just the bartender, bellhop, general hotel staff. So he hides his identity.

The next year when Irene visits the hotel, Jean does a great bit of becoming a guest while he is working the dining room where Irene is to be seated. They meet up in the bar again because her man falls asleep. This time Irene gets caught and her engagement is off. So she finds Jean thinking he's really rich but when she finds him he has to confess he’s not what she thinks he is.

Although he tries, Jean realizes he cannot afford Irene because she spends all his money within a week of being together. Broke, Jean gets tapped to be a kept man by a rich woman. Irene, decides to help him by coaching him on how to get the most bling and baubles for the time he spends with this older woman.

This is a well paced film that poses a question, in a light hearted way; what would you do for security, for happiness?  This film, through its deft and clear writing and direction, poses many questions, including: What would it be like to be one of these older rich gentlemen?

Overall: This was a very enjoyable film with excellent acting, direction, and pacing.

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