If you’re looking for a tasty little French romantic comedy, Apres Vous is just the ticket. screen-captureNothing deep here, nor laugh out loud funny, but the French have a way with the romances and I have a thing for Daniel Auteuil. Here he stars as a restaurant manager (Antoine) who saves a stranger in the park (Louis) from hanging himself and then tries to repair his life. He finagles him a job as sommelier at his restaurant but things get a bit more complicated when he decides to get Louis and his ex-girlfriend Blanche back together. Of course, he falls for her himself losing his own girlfriend along the way. He can’t tell the suicidal Louis, but cannot help himself and naturally Louis finds out.

Apres Vous takes place in a lovely brasserie somewhere in Paris and just watching the food being served in the first scene made me ravenous. I could smell the butter and taste the baguettes. I am not sure that I would watch this if it were an American movie, because I can’t imagine this story being told in such a gentle fashion. We don’t do sweet little farces. Every time Hollywood remakes a French comedy, it doesn’t translate — think A Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe. I read that Wes Anderson is currently developing another Daniel Auteuil film Mon Meilleur Ami into an American remake. I have my fingers crossed; he might just have the temperament to do it. Apres Vous was released in 2003.

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