Emmanuel Mourcet is quietly carving out a niche as a master of the bittersweet love story, not only writing and directing but also starring and anyone who saw his last effort, Changement d'addresse, will want to catch this follow-up. Playing opposite him are two of the loveliest actresses in current French cinema, Julie Gayet and Virginie Ledoyen with Frederic Bel - who was also in Changement d'addresse - thrown if for good measure. Not a lot happens; Gayet asks directions from a stranger, accepts first a lift then a date but refuses the goodnight kiss she longs to accept. By way of explanation she tells a story of how another girl, Viginie Ledoyen, DID accept a kiss from Mouret that ultimately changed both their lives and it is, of course, more than possible that Gayet is using the 'a friend' ploy to speak about herself. You may not go that far to find a more charming and delightful movie but certainly farther than the corner drugstore, even a corner drugstore in the next town. If I were you I'd catch this one when it plays a cinema near you.
Review of Shall We Kiss?
