Priceless (2006)
"Hors de prix" (original title)

Through a set of wacky circumstances, a young gold digger mistakenly woos a mild-mannered bartender thinking he's a wealthy suitor.

Director:

Pierre Salvadori

Writers:

Pierre Salvadori (scenario), Benoît Graffin (scenario),

Stars:

Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, Marie-Christine Adam

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Audrey Tautou	...	Irène
Gad Elmaleh	...	Jean
Marie-Christine Adam	...	Madeleine
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Jacques
Jacques Spiesser	...	Gilles
Annelise Hesme	...	Agnès
Charlotte Vermeil	...	La dame au chihuahua
Claudine Baschet	...	La dame au dogue
Laurent Claret	...	Le responsable du bar à Biarritz
Jean de Coninck	...	Le client au cigare
Blandine Pélissier	...	La femme de chambre
Philippe Vendan-Borin	...	Le serveur au restaurant à Biarritz
Bernard Bourdeau	...	Le collègue de Jean à Biarritz
Didier Brice	...	François
Laurent Mouton	...	Le serveur au café François

Storyline

On the Riviera with her elderly provider to celebrate her birthday, Irene slips down to the hotel bar when he falls asleep on her. She mistakes barman Jean for a well-healed guest and he encourages the deceit by taking her up to the Royal Suite for the night. A year later the same thing happens but this time her lover finds out and disowns her. Now knowing Jean is indeed a barman of little means doesn't stop her from continuing to live in style until his money is gone. He soon finds himself in Irene's business with older and worldly-wise Madeleine, and though Irene also takes up with a new paramour the two of them keep in increasingly close touch.

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Plot Keywords:

bartender | money | gold digger | birthday | caught kissing | 

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Taglines:

On the French Riviera, Love, Passion and Romance come at a Price

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content including nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site TFM Distribution [fr]

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

13 December 2006 (France)

Also Known As:

Priceless

Filming Locations:

France

Box Office

Budget:

€11,700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£125,433 (UK) (13 June 2008)

Gross:

$2,164,670 (USA) (22 August 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

France 2 Cinéma, France 3 Cinéma, Tovo Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During a French TV show, the actress and singer Marie Laforêt announced her participation in the film, but in the end, she did not appear in it.

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Quotes

Jean: Referring to the expensive watch Madeleine has bought for him: "That's not a watch. It's a treasure chest." In French "C'est pas un montre. C'est un coffre."

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Soundtracks

"Cheaper to Keep Her"
Performed by Mfsb (as M.F.S.B.)
(Mack Rice)
© Deleif Music/East Memphis Music Corp.
(P) 1963 Sony BMG Music Entertainment Inc.
With the kind authorization of Sony BMG Music Entertainment France

User Reviews

Grand Prix

Last night my girlfriend dragged me to a chick flick. Fortunately for me, my girl has pretty good taste and it happened to be a French chick flick. Priceless doesn't redefine the genre, but it does prove most European mainstream films have a lot more going for them than most mainstream American films.

"Love conquers all" is certainly not an original theme, yet clichéd or not, this telling feels both fresh and intelligent. Whereas American chick flicks portray women as lonely, hopeless and dying to meet Mr. Right, Priceless establishes its female lead as anything but. Audrey Tautou's Irène is an icy predator, a materialistic bitch with no redeeming qualities other than a great body every designer dress she dons showcases. Here the male lead Jean (Gad Elmaleh) is the hapless and hopeless romantic, who is desperate to melt the ice queen's heart. While this setup might call to mind the Coen Brother's Intolerable Cruelty, it doesn't suffer from IC's achilles heel: aping the films it was inspired by. The Coen's film is an all too obvious tribute to Howard Hawk's screwball romantic comedies, so much so, their respect for Hawk's becomes the very crutch that renders IC lame. Priceless also pays respect to classic French comedies (ie. the films of Louis de Funès and Jacques Tati) but, unlike IC, it never gets bogged down by its influences. Priceless manages to make the old seem new and it is buoyed by its charm, its nuanced writing and the performances of the two leads.

Gad Elmaleh who plays the naïve Jean, not only nails every bit of physical comedy assigned to him, but he also provides Priceless with its heart. You can't help but feel his pain as you see in his eyes the heartache and humiliation inflicted upon him by Tautou's Irène. Throughout the film Elmaleh effortlessly expresses a wide range of emotions and even though the comedy is, at times, broad it never feels contrived and always feels natural.

I'm not going to go over the top and call this a masterpiece, but if you've got to sacrifice some blood and sit through a chick flick after subjecting your better half to a Herzog marathon (as I recently did), then Priceless is the perfect choice.