- Director: Danièle Thompson
- AMG Rating:
- Genre: Comedy Drama
- Movie Type: Showbiz Comedy, Ensemble Film
- Themes: Big Break, Actor's Life, Life in the Arts
- Main Cast: Cécile De France, Valérie Lemercier, Albert Dupontel, Claude Brasseur, Dani
- Release Year: 2006
- Country: FR
- Run Time: 106 minutes
Plot
A fresh-faced orphan from the provinces labors away at the last old-fashioned café on Avenue Montaigne as the Paris theater elite prepare for the biggest night of the year in Jet Lag director Danièle Thompson's whirlwind comedy of intersecting lives. Jessica (Cécile De France) may have been orphaned at the tender age of four, but her doting grandmother (Suzanne Flon) did her best to bring the motherless girl up right. A one-time ladies' room attendant at The Ritz, Jessica's grandmother was a woman well known for her extraordinary taste. Upon arriving in Paris to work as a waitress at a modest café nestled between a renowned concert hall, a venerable theater, and a high-profile auction house, Jessica soon finds herself interacting with a curious cross section of the thriving entertainment industry. As rehearsals for the upcoming shows get under way and Jessica is assigned the task of delivering food to the hardworking actors and low-earning stagehands, she soon discovers that even the most famous of people are often forced to make difficult decisions in life.Jean-François Lefort (Albert Dupontel) is a classical pianist whose devoted wife has him booked at venues across Europe for the next six years. As the free-spirited musician struggles to eschew the formality of his upcoming concert appearance, self-made businessman Jacques Grumberg (Claude Brasseur) takes time out from his May-December romance and his stressful medical treatment in order to auction off a collection that he has been building his entire life and reach out to his estranged intellectual son, Frédéric (Christopher Thompson). Meanwhile, back on the theater front, popular television actress Catherine Versen (Valérie Lemercier) prepares to star in a farcical play, a famous American film director (Sydney Pollack) begins auditioning actors for an upcoming film about Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and a cheerful concierge on the verge of retirement (Dani) enjoys her final stint rubbing elbows with the biggest and brightest stars in Paris. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Review
France's failed bid for the Academy Award's Foreign Language Film in 2006, Danièle Thompson's Avenue Montaigne is a paean to Paris, love, and the invigorating power of art. It follows the wanderings of Jessica (Cécile De France), a winsome waif who moves to Paris on a whim inspired by the irresponsibly romantic ramblings of her grandmother. With her wide taking-in-the-beauty-of-life eyes, broad smile, boyish haircut, and childish fashion sense, Jessica is an orphan pixie nauseatingly reminiscent of Amélie. She talks her way into a job and into the hearts of those around her with adorable aplomb and giddy hugs.In the more satisfactory first half, supporting characters Catherine (Valérie Lemercier), Jean-François (Albert Dupontel), and Jacques (Claude Brasseur) are all dealing with mid- to late-life crises. They're questioning their passion and abilities at their jobs and their relationships with their lovers. Lemercier in particular strikes the right balance between overblown humor and pathos to make a syrupy spectacle like Avenue Montaigne work. There is a pleasing congruity to Catherine's storyline and Lemercier's performance. Catherine impresses American director Brian Sobinski (Sydney Pollack) with her enthusiasm and knowledge of Simone de Beauvoir so much that he decides to change his upcoming biographical film to be told from her character's perspective; Lemercier, in her excellence, similarly tilts the film's focus towards an appreciation of what could easily come across as a pathetic character.
However the resolution of the characters' crises are painfully simplistic. The central premise of the film rests on an appealing but troubling fantasy: that life's darker problems are solved by ignoring them and focusing on a pretty surface. "I loved jewelry, I loved luxury," the grandma's voice-over repeatedly states, and this is what the film holds up as the ideal of Paris. By emphasizing immediate surface pleasures, director Thompson ignores the very real intensity and intellectuality that is the basis of Paris' romantic caricature. Less cynical viewers may disagree; whether or not one enjoys this film may depend on one's susceptibility to swooning over a night-lit Eiffel Tower at the time of viewing. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Cast
Cécile De France - JessicaValérie Lemercier - Catherine VersenAlbert Dupontel - Jean-François Lefort- Claude Brasseur - Jacques Grumberg
Dani - Claudie
