I think the last moderately successful tale of gold-diggers with hearts of gold was Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Michael Caine and Steve Martin, and the subsidiary Glenne Headley.
This contmporary French version puts the woman in the dead-centre of the frame. That she's the adorable Audrey Tatou who captivated everyone in Amelie is no bad choice. Though I must admit, when Claudette Colbert or Audrey Hepburn played those kind of roles, the wit and pace soared above this tepid effort.
Audrey T. plays Irene, whose long-game of seduction for money is just about to pay off when her aging sugar daddy proposes - when Boombiddy-boodbiddy-boom! she's distracted by a case of mistaken identity. Every element of the premise is dubious, so here are a brace of questions:
1. Imagine you are this bounty hunter who's honed her seduction techniques, who knows every trick in the book, who - and this is crucial - has FINALLY snared her quarry ... would you really allow an itch in your Guia La Bruna panties to trip you up in the final stretch? OK, maybe if the guy were ___ fill in the blank with your undeniable heart-throb. But charmless boy-next-door Gad Elmaleh? Pu-leeze!
2. And, if you were said bounty hunter who knows every trick in the book, do you think you might be able to peer past Gad's social awkwardness, his lack of any hint of a moneyed life to winkle out that this is an imposter? No matter how drunk you were?
Bottom line is - the set-up is solely to start off a tale of transition that's not only predictable, but nudged along with a sledge-hammer when it should float aloft on creme patisserie, accompanied by wit and pleasantries which haven't come from the Bad Joke Factory.
Priceless? Non, non! PS the only mild curiosity for UK fans of those cute Englishman/Frenchwoman Fiat ads is to see the lady [Annelise Hesme] in an actual role. She's not half bad!
