Love is in the Air - DVD

Film: Actually Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) is completely inspired by happiness when she boards the plane from New York to Paris. Because the young woman is on the way to her wedding and that is, as we all know, the most beautiful day in life. Too bad that next to her on the plane is her ex Antoine (Nicolas Bedos), who is on his way to an important job interview. There's still a lot of bad blood between the two years after their breakup - but also a lot of passion. And the seven-hour flight to Paris gives them plenty of opportunity to work through their failed relationship. And in the process, it quickly becomes clear that Antoine desperately wants Julie back, while she really just wants to be left alone. After all, she can't forgive him for his supposed misstep. But little by little it becomes clear that not everything went as it seemed until now. But can past love really blossom again, especially since Julie seems to have found her new happiness long ago?

From the very beginning, Love is in the Air's visual language and soundtrack bring back memories of the wonderful romantic comedies of Nora Ephron (Email for You, Sleepless in Seattle), who died in 2012. While Alexandre Castagnetti's second feature film can't quite compete in the league of Ephron's works, it certainly comes close in some moments. This is due to the soundtrack and the good camera work as well as the two main actors Ludivine Sagnier and Nicolas Bedos, between whom there is a very good chemistry. This gives the exchanges between Julie and Antoine an extreme amount of fire, which is further fuelled by a steadily rising passionate tension.

What works particularly well is the relationship between the ex-couple, told in flashbacks, from the first time they met to the bitter end, with the truth only gradually piecing itself together like a puzzle for both the audience and the two lovers. It's this quite cleverly constructed plot that makes the movie especially entertaining and also a little bit surprising, despite the numerous clichés. Admittedly, some of the jokes fall a little flat and some of the supporting characters are overdrawn. But the film easily makes up for such weaknesses with its charming production.

Because even if Love is in the Air may not be great cinematic art, the sparkling romantic comedy is definitely perfect feel-good entertainment for all hopeless romantics. There are moments to laugh at and moments to pine for without restraint, there are likeable characters, beautiful music and plenty of classic rom-com elements that make it simply impossible not to end the film with a satisfied smile. If you love beautiful romances in general, or French romantic comedies in particular, you shouldn't miss this very special flight to the city of love. Absolutely worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The DVD's image is pleasing with its warm, ingratiating colors and good overall sharpness, which shows off smaller details well, especially in the brighter scenes. As usual for a romantic comedy, surround fireworks shouldn't be expected here in terms of sound. However, the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix certainly fulfils its purpose of transporting the dialogue and soundtrack out of the speakers in a well-matched and powerful manner. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, the DVD has, in addition to the trailer for the film, a short but nice making of (approx. 10:37 min.), some nice outtakes (approx. 7:28 min.), and six dropped and extended scenes (approx. 11:40 min.).

Conclusion: Love is in the Air is a nice romantic comedy that scores points with its likable cast and some nice plot twists. The film exudes the flair of a typical Nora Ephron comedy in many places, even if the level of films like Email for You or Sleepless in Seattle is not quite reached in the end. All in all, however, a real feel-good film for hopeless romantics, which presents itself on DVD in good picture and sound quality and also has a few nice extras to offer. For this there is a clear: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp