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Movies / Upcoming / Avenue Montaigne
Avenue Montaigne

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Avenue Montaigne (2007)

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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

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Reviews for Avenue Montaigne

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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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.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/20/07
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail

Director Danièle Thompson tries vainly to make a larger point, but the thin effervescence of the film bubbles away any such attempts.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
04/19/07
Jason Ferguson
Jason Ferguson
Orlando Weekly

Though the picture's like a souffle that occasionally goes soggy, for the most part it's a tasty treat.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
04/18/07
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

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.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
04/13/07
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
04/13/07
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

Avenue Montaigne [hits the mark] in a way that's unpretentious, sublime, sweet, meaningful and funny.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
04/12/07
Laura Kelly
Laura Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
04/07/07
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

The ensemble cast is wonderful, especially Lemercier as the bipolar actress trying to impress Pollack's director but failing spectacularly.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
04/06/07
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
04/06/07
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...breezy, light-hearted...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
04/04/07
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

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.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
04/01/07
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

Avenue Montaigne is a bon-bon for culture tourists.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/01/07
Bill Stamets
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Thompson's crowd-pleaser makes up in refined schmaltz what it lacks in innovation or profundity.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/01/07
Ronnie Scheib
Ronnie Scheib
Chicago Reader

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.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
03/31/07
Richard Nilsen
Richard Nilsen
Arizona Republic

A thoroughly enjoyably and wistfully charming ensemble drama carried off with an irresistible Gallic flair.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
03/31/07
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
03/29/07
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Feather-light, Avenue Montaigne is lifted from mere pleasantness by its quirky character details.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
03/23/07
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

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.

Full Review Source: Kaplan vs. Kaplan | comment Comment
03/20/07
Jeanne Kaplan
Jeanne Kaplan
Kaplan vs. Kaplan

The ultra-thin characterizations do not lend themselves to audience empathy.

Full Review Source: Kaplan vs. Kaplan | comment Comment
03/20/07
David Kaplan
David Kaplan
Kaplan vs. Kaplan

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.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
03/16/07
Mary F. Pols
Mary F. Pols
Contra Costa Times
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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