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SYNOPSIS: Alex
is a charming, funny and effortlessly cool professional break-up
artist with just ten days to sabotage the relationship of
a seemingly perfect couple. But with one of his targets, the
beautiful, fiesty and independent Juliette, will he find that
when it comes to love the perfect plan doesn't always exist?
MOVIE
REVIEW:
If the Americans can do it, then why not the French? That must be what went through the minds of the producers of “Heartbreaker”, a French rom-com with the utmost American sensibilities. It’s a good thing then that the French have learnt from the best, so even if this rom-com is nothing more than fluffy diverting stuff, it still is of the highest order.
Like the best Hollywood rom-coms, it has a captivating premise. This is a story of a guy whose profession is to open the eyes of women caught in bad relationships by making them fall in love with him. Thanks to his intervention, women gain the courage to free themselves from their sorry state of affairs, whether a lifeless marriage, or an abusive spouse.
In the film’s witty opening, our protagonist Alex (Romain Duris) poses as a humanitarian worker who takes a woman away with him on one of his aid missions to free him from her irresponsible hunk of a boyfriend. His surefire technique? Turning his head away, and pretending to cry over an unhappy childhood memory, thus winning the girl’s sympathy. Apparently, it works all the time.
Alex meets his match in Juliette (Vanessa Paradis), a rich heiress whose father engages Alex to break up her impending nuptials with handsome and kind-hearted business Johnathan (Andrew Lincoln). So Alex begins his usual routine of trying to get Juliette to fall for him by posing as a bodyguard sent by her father, only this time- as you’ve probably guessed- the feeling becomes mutual.
The story’s trajectory should not be unfamiliar for anyone who’s seen a Hollywood rom-com- boy and girl start off disliking each other, bickering with each other, before realising that he/she might be in love with the other party. Director Pascal Chaumeil, a TV and commercial director making his feature film debut here, compensates for the predictability by moving things along at a jaunty pace, so you won’t notice too quickly how formulaic it all seems.
His other distractions include setting the movie in the beautiful city of Monte Carlo, a distinctly European city perfect for the escapism this movie offers; and of course, the film’s two main leads, Duris and Paradis, who throw themselves so whole-heartedly into the fun, frothy ride that you’ll readily join them. Great case in point is when both actors gleefully re-enact Patrick Swayze and Jennifer’s Grey climactic dance in “Dirty Dancing”, the film Juliette’s favourite of all time.
This and Juliette’s love for Wham! are further signs of the American influence on this French film, a rom-com as pleasantly entertaining as the usual Hollywood rom-com. But with excellent chemistry between Duris and Paradis, Laurent Zeitoun’s effervescent dialogue and a genuinely bright and breezy atmosphere, “Heartbreaker” is every bit as enjoyable as the best rom-coms. Perhaps its greatest form of flattery is how Hollywood already plans to re-make it- they probably won’t have to work too hard to make it work.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
NIL.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio works good enough for this dialogue-heavy movie. Visuals are clean and sharp with no visible flaws throughout.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted on 26 December 2010
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