Pascal Chaumeil’s debut feature film Heartbreaker is going to get all of those classic poster quotes such as, “rollercoaster ride,” “fun for the whole family, “Mission Impossible meets Hitch,” and “neither Richard Curtis nor Andy Tennant were involved, but it still made money!” Everything but the last one actually.
The French are not known on this side of the Atlantic, their rom coms, so while this film might seem familiar to American audiences, it’s in fact a rarity. It’s really the most American-ized French film I’ve seen in quite a while. The fact that this film succeeds is an even greater surprise given those behind it, relatively new scribes Laurent Zeitoun, Jeremy Doner and Yohan Gromb decorate the rom com with espionage elements that serve to increase the effectiveness of both formulas.
Chaumeil comes from years working as an Assistant Director for Luc Besson and commercials, so I wouldn’t expect comedy and romance to be his touch. Co-stars Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis are beloved in France, but never before for this genre.
Paradis already has her footprint in American culture via her beau Johnny Depp, but Duris hasn’t really crossed over. This film makes him ripe for it though, since he has now rounded out his resume to deliver the full package. He’s done awkward, neurotic, cynical sentimentalist flaneur in L’Auberge Espanole and its sequel Russian Dolls. His previous dramatic breakout role in The Beat That My Heart Skipped gave us a darker and tougher, yet still flaneur Duris. Now, Heartbreaker shows us how he can charm an audience and make us laugh.
Here’s my sit down with both the first time director and veteran actor.
IFC Films releases Heartbreaker in theaters this Friday, and an American remake is already underway with Working Title producing, but I would not be surprised to see Duris making Vincent Cassel-esque cameos soon. Next up, catch Duris in TIFF premiere of Eric Lartigau’s The Big Picture.
