Charmant garçon (2001) - film review

Octave, a fifty-year old divorcé, finds his life upended when one day he meets Esther, an attractive thirty-something artist with a busy social life.  Esther is everything that Octave isn’t – polite, sophisticated, ambitious.  She already has a boyfriend, and doesn’t exactly warm to her new suitor, especially as he has just rammed his car into the back of hers.  Octave does not give up, however, and despite their obvious differences, Esther allows the older man into her life...

Highly regarded as an actor, Patrick Chesnais made his directorial debut with this rather sombre romantic comedy, in which he takes the lead role.  The film offers an unusual - perhaps idealised – view of romantic love, by presenting us with two characters who have nothing in common and who could not possibly end up together.  Chesnais succeeds a little too well in demonstrating the couple’s mutual incompatibility, because when they do finally get it together, the film fails to be convincing.   The film’s two stars Patrick Chesnais and Alexandra Vandernoot can hardly be faulted and give great value.  The script – again largely the work of Chesnais – is well-written, with some hilarious one-liners.  The only real problem with this film is that the relationship between two principal characters is just too implausible to be taken seriously, and consequently the film feels a tad unsatisfactory.

© James Travers 2003

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