Open their eyes, but not their legs. Break the relationships, but not the hearts.
Take the romantic comedy formula, and spin it into a heist-like genre film. Only this time, what the professional operators steal are not banks but hearts. Almost mission impossible?
Heartbreaker (L’arnacoeur) delivers. With a refreshing dose of wit, charm, sexiness and speed so uncommon in Hollywood rom-coms. The comedy (and the chase) comes partly from the elaborate spying and research techniques, and the extremes the professional con-artist will go to to complete his assignment under the pressure of time and money. Almost Mission Impossible!
Beyond the brilliant premise and set-up, the comedy works largely because of the two leads, and the intoxicating chemistry between them.
Romain Duris is a charmer, and a very good actor. Have loved him since The Spanish Apartment, Osmosis, Russian Dolls, and The Beat That My Heart Skipped. Two years back, when he took on the period comedy Molière under thick facial hair, he flaunted his excellent comedy chops. Here, he is every bit the right man for the right job. Action sequences, broad comedy, tender regrets, dirty dancing, he did it all in this film, with a suaveness no Hollywood A-lister could match up to.
(Incidentally, his Spanish Apartment‘s co-star Audrey Tautou also had a film about cons in love shot at the Riveria – Priceless, a movie I like a lot too.)
Vanessa Paradis says it best when she says nothing at all. Just a look…. a lingering look, captured by the lens and projected on screen, illuminates and communicates all the essence of her character. She plays the straight foil for Romain’s physical comedy, and again, no one the likes of Drew Barrymore or Julia Stiles could ever reprise her enigmatic presence.
The French is also always good in providing strong, well-fleshed out supporting characters, as evident here in the super-disguise-spy sister and her techie-loony husband. They have enough scenes and moments on their own to cement the odd relationship. The filmmakers also make an effort to keep the fast-paced comedy accessible to a larger movie-going audience, with beautiful locales in Monte Carlo, pop culture references in Dirty Dancing and George Michael, and the generous use of indie tracks in English.
Heartbreaker, to me, is definitely the romantic comedy of this year.
Heartbreaker opens in Singapore this Thursday. A must-watch this weekend!
