Priceless

A romantic comedy set on the French Riviera. Irène lives by pursuing rich men. She is found in hotels, bars and on boats, and someone else always pays. One night she talks to a drunk man in the hotel bar and takes him for a wealthy guest. The man is Jean, a barman at the same hotel. He does not correct the mistake. When the truth comes out Irène leaves. Jean follows, spends all his money in a few days and is left alone at the hotel. There an older woman notices him, and Jean finds himself on the male side of the work Irène does. The idea is in that symmetry: the two play the same game and work in different rooms of the same hotel. At one point they start giving each other technical advice. Visually the film looks back to old Hollywood romantic comedy; the costumes and locations make the link plain. Audrey Tautou plays Irène and Gad Elmaleh plays Jean. Pierre Salvadori directed. A pleasant choice for anyone who likes light French comedy and classical patterns. For a viewer expecting a moral transformation from the characters, the film corrects nobody.