Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Romain Duris | ... | Xavier Rousseau | |
Kelly Reilly | ... | Wendy | |
Audrey Tautou | ... | Martine | |
Cécile de France | ... | Isabelle (as Cécile De France) | |
Kevin Bishop | ... | William | |
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Evguenya Obraztsova | ... | Natacha |
Irene Montalà | ... | Neus | |
Gary Love | ... | Edward | |
Lucy Gordon | ... | Celia Shelburn | |
Aïssa Maïga | ... | Kassia | |
Martine Demaret | ... | Mère Xavier | |
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Pierre Cassignard | ... | Platane |
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Olivier Saladin | ... | Gérard |
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Pierre Gérald | ... | Grand-père |
Zinedine Soualem | ... | M. Boubaker |
Xavier is now thirty. No longer a student, he is not yet a well-balanced, fulfilled adult either. His career is unsatisfying: Far from being the renowned novelist he aimed to be he must be content with little jobs such as reporter or ghost writer. His greatest "achievement" in "literature" is his collaboration to the script of a corny TV soap! His sentimental life is not much better, rhythmed by one night stands and unfinished romances. It looks as if when he seduces a woman beautiful outside and inside such as Kassia or Wendy he can't keep them. Will he ever bring his life into focus? Written by Guy Bellinger
Russian Dolls (2005)
You have to like such an inventive, fast, witty, and all the same convincing movie. This is funny in that fast, off the wall way "Amelie" was funny, though here I think it gets another level of complexity that not only makes you pay attention, but rewards your attention.
Leading man Romain Duris is subtle and charming (and what American girls would call "cute"), and he the thread through time in a long multi-tasking flashback with lots of editing and framing liberties. He seems to fall in love but not know what love is. He is a struggling writer who finds enough success to work on scripts that also become part of the movie. Though we start firmly in Paris, the story takes us many times to London, and to Russia, which makes for a tale of four cities in the best way.
The whole cast is pretty amazing, both comic and touching and convincing at the same time. People are chic and cool but flawed and quirky, too. And the cast is large, with a final party scene that brings most of them together (and for a little too long). It's a love story, and a good one.