Saturday, August 06, 2011

Romantics Anonymous

At last! The planets align (or at least our film schedules do) and Ian and I manage to go to the same movie at the same time. Romantics Anonymous (think alcoholics anonymous for people with emotional and/or romantic issues which hinder them functioning well in society) is a love story between two such individuals, Angelique and Jean-Rene.

Angelique is generally nervous and has a tendency to faint when under scrutiny, particularly when she's praised. Jean-Rene is pathologically terrified of women and attempts to cover this up by being brusque. Angelique applies for a job at Jean-Rene's hand-made chocolate factory - she thinks its a chocolate-maker's job (since that's what she does) but in fact the job is for a sales rep. When you see how short the interview is, you can grasp how this misunderstanding gets perpetuated.

Anyhow, spurred on by his shrink, Jean-Rene asks Angelique out for dinner. Their date borders on the excruciating to watch, but is very funny. Undeterred by the disaster, Angelique continues to turn up to work trying to sell not-very-good chocolate to local businesses.

She brings the company back from the brink of financial ruin by suggesting and helping create a new line of chocolates and of course she and Jean-Rene manage to get it together eventually, united by a love of good chocolate and recognising in the other a soul as peculiar as their own. The fact that you're pretty sure there will be a happy ending doesn't detract at all from this film.

If you're looking for a charming, short (80 minutes), escapist and funny film to brighten your day, then Romantics anonymous is a good choice.

Anne's rating 4/5 Ian's rating 4/5

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