It's too late for me ...

That's it, time's up, pens down! The competition has closed. It seems not too many of my Aussie twitter followers are keen on films of the French persuasion but that just means more of a chance for those who entered. As usual I've given those who entered (all 3 of you!) a number and used a random number generator to decide the winner.

And the winner is *drum roll*  Claire Jarvis you've won an all expenses paid trip to New York! ... not quite, you've won a double pass to HeartBreaker! Congratulations!



HeartBreaker
December 26th 2010 (Australian release date)
Dir: Pascal Chaumeil

Alex (Romain Duris) runs a business with his sister, Melanie (Julie Ferrier) and brother in law Marc (Francois Damiens). Alex is a professional heartbreaker and he's just taken his latest assignment. He must break up Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) and her fiance Jonathan (Andrew Lincoln) before their wedding in 10 days time.

Alex has rules however, he only breaks up unhappy couples, that is, a relationship where the girl is unhappy but won't admit it, and Juliette seems pretty happy. But Alex has mounting debts and breaking up this couple is at the top of his to do list.

I love romantic comedies. There, I said it. I know they're cheesy and unrealistic but they're fun, and HeartBreaker is no exception. The premise is quite absurd but it's told in such a charming way that you can't help but fall for it. The film feels like Old Hollywood, there's not a Katherine Heigl in sight, although Juliette's "friend" comes dangerously close, the film maintains a certain level of class. The jokes are funny, the sentiment is honest and believable and all in all, this is a stand out romantic comedy for the year.

Romain Duris is the main reason this film succeeds, his sexy seductions work not only on the characters in the film but on the audience too. His performance has perfect comedic timing and he rounds himself out as the perfect leading man when he performs the main Dirty Dancing dance not once but three times, and he's even shirtless for one of those - hello ladies (and those men who are inclined)!

You do have to forgive the film for a few shortcomings, specifically towards the end. You don't have to be a genius to guess that while Alex is "working" on seducing Juliette he is actually falling for her, and like all Hollywood rom coms the girl discovers the truth. What happens between the discovery and the film's conclusion however, seems rushed and muddled. We're on board because we're come to like these characters and rally for them, but taking a step backwards it is a large oversight in pacing and storytelling.

Speaking of Hollywood, Working Title and Universal have picked up the English language remake rights. I am literally cringing as I write this. Another recent favourite French film is LOL (Laughing Out Loud) which has been remade by the Yanks starring Demi Moore and Miley Cyrus. While original screenwriter Jeremy Donor is on board there are just some things that can't be translated and more often than not an English language remake falls far short of the original.

This won't make many people's Top films of the year list but it's a great example of when romantic comedies can work; with the right director, screenplay, setting and actors - HeartBreakers is nothing short of delightful.  I still get the tummy fuzzies just thinking about this film.

4 / 5

So now's your chance to see this film early - it's not out until Boxing Day but preview screenings are being held nationwide (Australia) over the coming 2 weekends. Leave a comment below with your name and email address (or @twitter name) and I'll draw one lucky person tomorrow (Wednesday Dec 8th) at 12pm (midday) so I'll have time to post out the pass. Good Luck or should I say Bonne Chance!