Laissons Lucie faire! (2000)
Directed by Emmanuel Mouret

Film Review

This charming romantic comedy marks a promising directoral debut for Emmanuel Mouret, who also wrote the script and starred in the film.  Although the plot lacks credibility in a few places (the absurdity of the secret agent subplot comes close to undermining the entire film), it is an uplifting little piece of cinema with some genuinely funny moments.  There is also a gentle tenderness and humanity which often gets lost in such films.  At a time when gritty realism and angst-ridden drama appear to have become the norm in French cinema, it is a joy to watch a film which takes a sunnier view of life.  Vive la diversité!

Marie Gillain is delightful as the film's principal heroine (making us wish we saw more of her than we do in this kind of film), whilst Emmanuel Mouret, with his uncanny resemblance to that comic giant Fernandel, gives great entertainment value as the terminally useless Lucien.  The film relies heavily on its two lead actors and the fact that it works so well is down mainly to the talent of these two performers.

Film Synopsis

In sunny Marseille, twenty-something Lucie makes a living by selling bathing costumes to tourists on the beach.  Her boyfriend, Lucien, fancies himself as a policeman, but when he is turned down for the job he does the only thing he can do, which is to get himself hired as a secret agent.  Well, he has the perfect disguise - no one would ever mistake him for James Bond.  Lucie and Lucien have been together for ten years but it looks as if they might be drifting inexorably apart.  Her romantic needs far from satisfied, Lucie has begun to have lurid fantasies about another man, whilst Lucien finds himself suddenly embroiled in an affair with an American woman.  It is clear that both Lucie and Lucien are inexperienced in the ways of love and are in desperate need of professional guidance.  This they find when Lucie happens upon a book about the psychology of love.  Fascinated by what she reads, the young woman decides to put it into practice without delay.  Poor Lucien...