Beautiful Lies (2010)

A hairdresser forwards a passionate love letter to her mother.

Director:

Pierre Salvadori

Writers:

Pierre Salvadori (scenario), Benoît Graffin (scenario)

Stars:

Audrey Tautou, Nathalie Baye, Sami Bouajila

Cast

Cast overview:
Audrey Tautou	...	Émilie Dandrieux
Nathalie Baye	...	Maddy Dandrieux
Sami Bouajila	...	Jean
Stéphanie Lagarde	...	Sylvia
Judith Chemla	...	Paulette
Cécile Boland	...	La cliente à la frange
Didier Brice	...	L'homme au magazine
Daniel Duval	...	Le père d'Émilie
Yilin Yang	...	Cliente chinoise 1
Qiu Lan	...	Cliente chinoise 2 (as Lan Qui)
Patrice Bouret	...	Monsieur Pastor
Paul Morgan	...	Mister Isaac
Santiago Reyes	...	Le traducteur

Storyline

Following a breakdown, multi-lingual Jean quits his job as a UNESCO translator to become handyman at Emilie's hair salon. Smitten by her he writes her a love letter but she thinks it comes from an elderly admirer and sends it on to her mother Maddy, who needs cheering after her husband left. Eventually Maddy comes to the conclusion that Jean is her secret admirer and Emilie plays up to this to keep her mother content and sane. When Emile tells the truth neither Maddy or Jean are pleased but love eventually finds a way to make them all happy.

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Plot Keywords:

neurotic | overbearing woman | hiding | hairdresser | f rated | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes a little white lie can change everything

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French Chinese English

Release Date:

8 December 2010 (France)

Also Known As:

Beautiful Lies

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,831,580

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Pelléas, TF1 Films Production, Tovo Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

During the opening credits, a love letter written to Émilie is read out in a voice-over while scenes of her admirer watching her and writing her letters are shown on the screen.

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Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 12 August 2011 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Amore Di Carta
Written by Lucilla Galeazzi and Philippe Eidel
Performed by Lucilla Galeazzi and Flavia Coelho

User Reviews

Hobbles Along Like A Blind Dog That Has Lost Its Scent

Is it a coincidence that Ms. Tautou is named Émilie (sounds like Amélie)? Is it a coincidence that she has the same gamin-tomboy look with her cropped hair as Amelie? Somehow I think it is intentional.

Alas, where the similarities to Amélie are evident they are the only thing they have in common. Unfortunately one similarity that is glaringly missing is the sheer energy of Ms. Tautou's' former director and mentor, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Whereas Jeunet is like a brightly illuminated comet hurtling through the sky, Pierre Salvadori's style is more akin to a slow moving iceberg. And that is what the film is - an iceberg.

Nearly all good romantic comedies have some essential ingredients: energy, dynamism, warmth, identifiable characters, quick-fire humour and empathy - think Bridget Jones, Notting Hill et al,. Sadly none of these ingredients are present. Not even the exceptional Nathalie Baye is able to drag this film from the doldrums. It is nothing more than a montage of scenes where very little happens or engages the viewer. Clearly Sami Bouajila did his best but his forte is serious drama and that's where he should stay.

The one shining light in the film is Judith Chemla. With her very expressive face and mannerisms she has a promising future.

It is quite sad that Ms. Tautou has concentrated on 'glamour' films since leaving Jeunet - "Coco Before Channel", "Priceless". At heart she is an exceptional comedy actor. Regretfully Salvadori is not the director who can direct and showcase her talents. Unless she wants to stay on the periphery of French cinema Ms. Tautou needs to ask herself how best can she deploy her many talents.