France 2010
Directed by
Pascal Chaumeil
104 minutes
Rated M
Reviewed by
Sharon Hurst
Heartbreaker
Synopsis: Alex (Romain Duris) is in business with his sister, Melanie (Julie Ferrier), and her husband Marc (Francois Damiens). The business is to break up relationships only in which it is perceived that the woman is unhappy and the rules of engagement are “open their eyes, not their legs”. But when he is being pursued for a large debt, Alex takes a slightly different assignment. A wealthy tycoon hires the team to stop Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) from marrying her English boyfriend (Andrew Lincoln), not because she is unhappy but because her Dad thinks the match is unsuitable. Alex has only one week to get the job done.Romain Duris is known for his dark and broody demeanour in films such as The Beat That My Heart Skipped, so it is nice to see him here in something lighter and in which he generates the odd laugh. “Odd” is the operative word though, because this is the sort of slightly silly film that Hollywood could easily have made (and probably will re-make), and includes plenty of Hollywoodish set pieces that are too predictable for words. Duris however is an engaging actor and is lots of fun as the professional heartbreaker. He pops up in a host of guises – window cleaner, chef, whatever it takes to catch his prey. For the assignment on Juliette he poses as a paid bodyguard, and not at all to Juliette’s liking. But he learns all Juliette’s favourite things, especially her penchant for the film Dirty Dancing which features large in a later scene.
The basic premise of this plot is really strong but it underwhelms in the execution. Defying credibility, Alex’s team has a multitude of electronic devices to assist them in their surveillance and the ruses they set up to seduce the subject are pure fantasy. Add to the mix the unexpected early arrival of the boyfriend, then of Juliette’s nymphomaniacal girlfriend, Sophie, (Helena Noguerra), and a large Serbian thug chasing Alex for money and you have all the ingredients for a great farce or something very silly. Chaumeil’s film walks between the two, and while I loved Duris in the role, I found myself disappointed with Paradis (The Girl On The Bridge). Somehow she didn’t have enough pizzazz for this role and, on a personal note, I had trouble keeping my eyes off the large gap between her front teeth.
The supporting cast are all solid enough and the film has some great scenic value – starting out in Marrakesh and moving to Monaco - with crisp cinematography and a nice “European” flavour. But it also seems squarely aimed at an audience used to American predictability, and nearing the end, when we see an airport scene we’ve seen a million times before, I found myself really disappointed by the familiar choices
Heartbreaker will lightly entertain when you need a non-cerebral, aimless afternoon at the flicks. And for those charmed by Duris, it’s worth seeing for his comic form.
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