The movie is as airy as a spun-sugar dessert, but Thompson's observations on the artistic life are both affectionate and knowing: Beauty and wealth, though inevitably compelling, are appreciated as means to humane ends, not goals in themselves.
Avenue Montaigne (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:92
Fresh:68
Rotten:24
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: A cute and bubbly French comedy that carries no deeper lessons or agendas than to have a little fun for 90 minutes.
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
US Box Office: $1,933,592
Synopsis: The charming Cecile de France sizzles as a waitress with a dream in the French romantic comedy AVENUE MONTAIGNE. Directed by Danièle Thompson (JET LAG) and written by Thompson and her son,... The charming Cecile de France sizzles as a waitress with a dream in the French romantic comedy AVENUE MONTAIGNE. Directed by Danièle Thompson (JET LAG) and written by Thompson and her son, Christopher (who also plays a major role in the film), AVENUE MONTAIGNE takes place on the fashionable Paris street from which the film takes its name. People from a theater, an auction house, and a concert hall gather in and around a central bistro where Jessica (de France) has wiggled her way into a temporary job, having just moved to the big city. At the auction house, Jacques Grumberg (Claude Brasseur) is selling off his lifelong art collection and trying to reconnect with his son, Frédéric (Christopher Thompson). At the concert hall, classical pianist Jean-François Lefort (Albert Dupontel) is tired of being on the road and wants to settle down into a more easygoing lifestyle, much to the consternation of his manager/wife, Valentine (Laura Morante). Meanwhile, at the theater, soap opera star Catherine Versen (Valérie Lemercier) is trying desperately to impress director Brian Sobinski (Sydney Pollack) in order to play Simone de Beauvoir in his next film. And in the middle of it all is wide-eyed Jessica, who has an innocent love of life that captures the heart of just about everyone she comes into contact with. Reminiscent of such fine French films as LOOK AT ME and VA SAVOIR, AVENUE MONTAIGNE features unique, interesting characters, excellent acting, and a lot of fun and fascinating talk about art, music, theater, food, and other cultural delights. [More]
Starring: Cecile de France, Claude Brasseur, Valerie Lemercier, Albert Dupontel
Starring: Cecile de France, Claude Brasseur, Valerie Lemercier, Albert Dupontel, Laura Morante, Christopher Thompson, Dani, Sydney Pollack, Annelise Hesme, Francois Lepine
Director: Daniele Thompson
Director: Daniele Thompson
Screenwriter: Daniele Thompson, Christopher Thompson
Composer: Nicola Piovani
Studio: ThinkFilm
Reviews for Avenue Montaigne
Director Danièle Thompson tries vainly to make a larger point, but the thin effervescence of the film bubbles away any such attempts.
Though the picture's like a souffle that occasionally goes soggy, for the most part it's a tasty treat.
While [director] Thompson's version of [Paris] as a democratic microcosm, where artist and audience mingle, is instantly familiar, it feels more dramatic device than genuinely inviting.
Watching the charming Avenue Montaigne makes you realize not only how much we miss when mainstream French films are not on the movie menu, but how much we miss when American studios define 'romantic comedy' so strictly.
Avenue Montaigne [hits the mark] in a way that's unpretentious, sublime, sweet, meaningful and funny.
Avenue Montaigne may not be the lightest, brightest film ever made, but compared to the glum and talky movies most people associate with French cinema, it's downright chipper.
The ensemble cast is wonderful, especially Lemercier as the bipolar actress trying to impress Pollack's director but failing spectacularly.
It's one of those 'what's-not-to-like' movies, a fantasy about life and Paris that passes painlessly, a trifle elevated by its Parisian settings and our desire to lose ourselves in them.
Thompson's crowd-pleaser makes up in refined schmaltz what it lacks in innovation or profundity.
When it all wraps up as neatly as the treacliest Hollywood film, we don't feel cheated, but rather enjoy the satisfaction of a story resolved, and we're happy for each of the people we have spent our hour with.
A thoroughly enjoyably and wistfully charming ensemble drama carried off with an irresistible Gallic flair.
If you're not going to Paris this spring -- and let's face it, so few of us are -- the next best thing might be Avenue Montaigne.
Feather-light, Avenue Montaigne is lifted from mere pleasantness by its quirky character details.
Paris looks stunning in the film, but even the City of Lights can only do so much for a poorly-written script. C'est dommage.
The ultra-thin characterizations do not lend themselves to audience empathy.
You never doubt that everything will turn out more or less well for the dozen or so characters. The pleasure lies in watching it unfold in all its amusing, nonthreatening, gently stimulating fashion. This is escapism a la francais.
Latest News for Avenue Montaigne
April 26, 2007:
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