My Piece of the Pie

With his films L`Auberge Espagnole and So Is Paris, director Cédric Klapisch has shown a delicate touch when it comes to mixing comedy and drama and depicting real-life themes. With his new social comedy My Piece of the Pie, Klapisch remains true to his charming mix of styles, threatening to fail at many a moment because of his own ambitions.

When the Dunkirk factory that France (Karin Viard) has worked for for twenty years closes, the single mother is in danger of falling into a deep hole. But after a failed suicide attempt, France pulls herself together and dares to make a complete fresh start. In Paris, she wants to earn enough money as a well-paid cleaner for the stock market shark Steve (Gilles Lellouche) to make ends meet for her family. In the designer apartment of the cynical businessman, two worlds collide. On one side is the resolute France, who must make great sacrifices for the love of her children. On the other is the self-absorbed Steve, who seems convinced that the whole world revolves around him and that money can buy everything. When Steve's young son (Lunis Sakji) shows up unannounced and France lovingly cares for the boy, the stock market speculator and his cleaning lady slowly grow closer - until France learns who is really behind the closing of her factory.

Klapisch does a first-rate job of drawing out the contrasts between the world France lives in and Steve's through strong images and even stronger actors. While Karin Viard (The Jewel), who is particularly great in this role, quickly wins the audience's sympathy, Gilles Lellouche (Little True Lies) has a harder time of it. The way Steve treats his son Alban or even his love interest, the young model Tessa (Marine Vacth), actually makes it impossible for the audience to like the success-hungry egomaniac. But when, prompted by France to stand up to him, he shows his good side and reveals what lies behind his cynical façade, he too becomes, in a way, a sympathetic figure.

That this is achieved goes a long way towards making the final third of the film work so well. If Steve were a complete creep without even a hint of a good side, the finale would certainly have lost a lot of its strength and intensity. As it is, however, both the protagonists' actions become more understandable and the plot development more surprising. However, the way to get there isn't always entirely convincing. For example, Klapisch's staging seems a bit overambitious in some scenes, as if he crampedly tried to establish as many conflicts as possible. On the other hand, even the good actors do not prevent that there are some clear lengths, especially in the middle part, which requires the viewer to sit a bit.

Below the line, however, My Piece of the Pie is still a piece of sophisticated European entertainment cinema worth seeing. The great acting duo, the engaging images that bathe the scenes in Dunkirk in particular in a mournful beauty, the understated humour and the story, which is good despite all its lengths, ensure that lovers of French film will get their money's worth here. Not quite as light on its feet as the two L`Auberge Espagnole films, but still another proof of Cédric Klapisch`s talent. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp