Priceless

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : Dec, 2006
Time : 104 minutes
Director & co-writer : Pierre Salvadori; Co-Writer : Benoit Graffin;
Starring : Audrey Tatou, Gad Elmaleh, Marie-Christine Adam, Vernon Dobtcheff

A gorgeous woman who chases wealthy men, mistakes a barman to be a rich tycoon and has a one night stand with him. When caught and abandoned by her current rich benefactor, she unfortunately realises the truth and promptly abandons the barman. However, the barman is now besotted by her and chases her to Nice, where she is chasing her next kill. All this is over within the next 15 minutes, leaving the rest of the film plenty of time to delight and surprise us.


Light, frothy and heady, this lovely French film charms you with its wit and humour while it reaches a reasonably predictable ending. What makes the film come alive are the two excellent characterisations by the lead pair, of the gold-digger and the barman who soon finds himself learning new skills. She introduces him and then instructs him about the world of ‘paid keeps’ and he suddenly learns how to string people along. He learns about the world of brands and expensive gifts and dinners.


The film moves at a good pace, always some fun and surprises along the way. Such as when she, just to prove how expensive a keep she is, cruelly and deliberately bankrupts him. And her habit of wearing dresses which don’t hide much and fall down in a heap with a mere flick of the fingers, makes for engaging viewing.

I think I’m going to close with the fact that French films have this amazing habit of seeming to belong to a different planet and this one is no different. It’s a perfect accompaniment to a nice bottle of wine…