Quatre étoiles (2006)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Christian Vincent

Writers:

Olivier Dazat (scenario and dialogue) &
Christian Vincent (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

3 May 2006 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Franssou, a charming Parisian English teacher, who shares part of her life with a boring middle-aged lover...

Plot Keywords:

Riviera | Cannes France | Paris France

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Isabelle Carré	...	France "Franssou" Dumanoir
José Garcia	...	Stéphane Lachesnaye
François Cluzet	...	René
Jean-Paul Bonnaire	...	Jacky Morestel
Michel Vuillermoz	...	Marc
Mar Sodupe	...	Christina
Guilaine Londez	...	Marianne
Charline Paul	...	La voisine
Olivier Dazat	...	Casteldi
Luis Rego	...	Robert
Renée Le Calm	...	Mlle Poilloux
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Éliane Adatto	...	Concierge
Vincent Andrieu	...	Employé notaire
Guillaume Bacquet
Marcelle Barreau
Jean-Claude Bolle-Reddat	...	Réceptionniste
Joseph Braconnier	...	Bagagiste
Claire Charré	...	Conseillère bancaire
Marius Colucci	...	Employé de réception
Jean-Louis Combelles	...	Maître d'hôtel
Fernand Dalmasso	...	Automobiliste
Georges Eon
Sébastien Féron	...	Loueur de voiture
Raymond Gil	...	Notaire
Colette Grivet	...	Femme de ménage
Stéphane Jouin	...	Barman
Gérard Jumel	...	Directeur
Béatrice Khebizi
Johnny Luchenne
Ham-Chau Luong	...	Couple asiatique
Philippe Manesse	...	Homme hippodrome
Richard Morgiève	...	Prêtre
Kim Nhan
Michel Ouimet
Patrick Palmero	...	Roberto
Hoan Pham	...	Couple asiatique
Philippe Smail	...	Bruno
Claude Testoris
Aurélie Valat	...	Secrétaire du notaire
Marion Waternaux	...	Serveur sri lankais

Also Known As:

Four Stars (Australia) (TV title)

Runtime:

France:106 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company:

Fidélité Productions

Soundtrack:

Don't go breaking my heart

Four stars alright

There is something wrong with today's french cinema, and it perhaps comes from what's been it's most fascinating side since the "nouvelle vague" : it's attraction, mixed with repulsion for American movies. Since the 60's, the french directors have always been fascinating by American cinema. But most of them use the American cinema's codes to transpose them in a french environment : from Truffaut' "Tirez Sur Le Pianiste" - which plays with the stereotypes of the Film noir in a french universe - to Gans' "Pacte Des loups" - which transposes the western codes in the pre-revolutionary France.

And it seems that, with "Quatre étoiles", Christian Vincent tries to archive this form of transformation of American's codes with the french touch. Indeed, the director quotes himself American's comedies from the 40's and says they're direct influence to make this film. "Quatre étoiles" tries to transfers the atmosphere of American's classical comedies from Los Angeles to Cannes. But unfortunately, it doesn't work. Why ?

Like in a Cukor' or Lubitch' comedy, the character - a young an inconstant woman - inherit, out of nowhere, 50000 euros and decides to spend it all in a week in Cannes, where, in search of adventures, she falls in love with a small time crook, played by José Garcia. And if a lot of situations are similar to 40's and 50's American films, it never reaches their level of grace and humor. It's true that we have, like in American movies, a young and in-experimented girl who knows exactly what she wants, and who decides to change her life and social position in a day, and that we also have an impossible love story between two characters who hate each other, and are still stuck together, but everything seems so small compared to its models.

When, in a American movie, the character would have inherit millions of dollars, the character here has only a few euros left, which can't provokes great and hilarious contrasted situations. The movie always avoid absurd situations and epic quiproquos, like it is afraid of its comical potential : everything stays calm and little, like the characters, who are just a reduction of American stereotypes : like the talkative-but-not-so-bad-crook. And when you reduce stereotypes, nothing much stays.

What stays after this very little movie is a small impression of boring, just tempered by the presence of the great Francois Cluzet, who plays a very funny half-brained ex-formula 1 driver, who falls in love with the wrong girl.