A Housekeeper (2002)
"Une femme de ménage" (original title)

After his wife leaves him for another man, Jacques hires a housekeeper, Laura, to keep his Paris apartment in order. As he starts increasing her hours and spending more time with her on her... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

Claude Berri, Christian Oster (book)

Stars:

Jean-Pierre Bacri, Émilie Dequenne, Brigitte Catillon

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean-Pierre Bacri	...	Jacques
Émilie Dequenne	...	Laura (as Emilie Dequenne)
Brigitte Catillon	...	Claire
Jacques Frantz	...	Ralph
Axelle Abbadie	...	Hélène
Catherine Breillat	...	Constance
Apollinaire Louis-Philippe Dogue	...	Ernest, le barman
Amalric Gérard	...	Julien
Laurence Colussi	...	La femme à la terrasse
Djura	...	La chanteuse
Nathalie Boutefeu	...	La jeune fille au concert
Xavier Maly	...	Assistant de Jacques
Abel Nahmias	...	Le voisin
Daniel Humair	...	Musicien (as H.U.M.)
Emilhenco	...	Musicien (as H.U.M., Rene Urtreger)

Storyline

After his wife leaves him for another man, Jacques hires a housekeeper, Laura, to keep his Paris apartment in order. As he starts increasing her hours and spending more time with her on her days off, Jacques is torn between the pleasure of Laura's company, and the headache that such an intrusion brings to his new domain of singlehood.

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Plot Keywords:

housekeeper | love | paris france | bikini | chicken | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity and brief language

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

13 November 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

The Housekeeper

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$42,083 (USA) (11 July 2003)

Gross:

$455,026 (USA) (7 November 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Renn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

At the end of the film, goes for a swim. When she returns to the beach, she is wearing a completely different bathing suit.

User Reviews

Lite-Housekeeping

Yet another small gem from that great year of French pics 2002. The talent is out of the right bottle too if anybody asks you, writer director Claude Berri and male lead Jean-Pierre Bacri, no slouch as a writer himself. To a certain extent is IS a male fantasy with Emillie Duquenne all but throwing herself at Bacri who has to be twice her age at least. But, as others have pointed out in these boards Bacri is basically decent and certainly wasn't looking for a May-December affair only for someone to police his apartment. For reasons of her own Duquenne developed what seemed to be genuine hots for him and naturally he's not going to turn down an attractive young girl. There's no special insight nor is any attempted, it's just a record of a brief fling in which nobody really gets hurt and we get to see some pleasant Parisian locations and listen to some pleasing music. Lemon soufflé anyone.