Charming Lies

Actually, Jean (Sami Bouajila), who works as a janitor in the hairdressing salon of the attractive but emotionally quite undercooled Émilie (Audrey Tautou), only wanted to vent his feelings for his boss with a poetic love letter. But after she has put the anonymously sent lines into the trash, she uses the love letter for completely different purposes: she sends it to her mother Maddy (Nathalie Baye), who is lost in deep depression since her husband left her for a younger woman. The soulful words are simply meant to cheer her up a bit. At least, that's Émilie's plan. But when Maddy is soon waiting for another sign from her anonymous beau, the worried daughter has to come up with something fast. And soon not only mother and daughter, but also the shy Jean are in a complete emotional mess that threatens to head for an unexpected outcome...

Enchanting Lies is a nice romantic comedy of mistaken identity, though it also comes across as a bit inconsequential. Director Pierre Salvadori has directed a film that has a lot of flair and charm, with some very nice ideas and is carried by three charming actors. The problem with this is that Èmilie in particular isn't really likeable. Her first reaction to Jean's love letter seems so arrogant that you really wish he would meet a woman who appreciates his kind words. That her behavior is only due to insecurity and fears does become clear as the story progresses. But this never really endears her, and it doesn't help when Audrey Tautou puts on her Amelie smile. Her performance is worth seeing and accomplished, but the viewer still has a hard time gaining access to her character.

Quite different is Jean, wonderfully portrayed by Sami Boujila, who quickly wins the hearts of the audience with his reserved manner. In particular, the scenes between Jean and Maddy, played in a wonderfully zany manner by Nathalie Baye, are undoubtedly some of the film's most amusing moments. The more Èmilie gets entangled in her lies and thus also puts her own happiness at risk, the more Jean and Maddy are on top form. Sure, the whole thing is almost completely lacking in surprises and occasionally a bit overdone. But here the actors can give free rein to their fun in the story, which can then be transferred to the audience.

So Bezaubernde Lügen has a pleasant entertainment value in the end, which is supported by the beautiful pictures and the charming atmosphere. If Èmilie had been drawn a little more sympathetically and the staging a little more original, there would have been nothing to complain about in this romantic comedy of mistaken identity. But so the film offers all friends of light French comedies only nice entertainment, not more, but also not less!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp