This Ingénue Is a Tramp
Audrey Tautou fetishists will probably be skipping out of work early today. The pixie-like French actress, who became iconic in the 2001 comedy "Amélie" and was fairly beside the point in the 2006 Ron Howard yawner "The Da Vinci Code," is back in her natural element: footloose comedy.
"Priceless" adds a twist, however. This time, Ms. Tautou's fragile gamine is a toughie. As Irène, she's a conniving and unfaithful consort to ultra-rich sugar daddies who summer in the exclusive resorts along the French Riviera. Seducing and fleecing aging Eurodandies is what Irène does best, allowing her to traipse about in endless flouncy designer outfits that show off her well-turned heel and incessantly bare shoulders.
One night, a bit bored by the wealthy swain she's hooked into a marriage proposal, Irène slips into a hotel bar where she catches a sole customer asleep on a couch. Jean (Gad Elmaleh) is instantly smitten and, in the absence of a bartender, ably rises to the occasion, expertly concocting a succession of fancy cocktails, each adorned with a tiny parasol. The umbrellas end up decorating Irène's hair, and the dapper Jean lures her back to a deluxe suite without even trying too hard.
Of course, as we already know, Jean is merely a waiter who was in the right place at the right time. Unfortunately for him, he's got a new obsession, and his life is about to take a radical turn.
After another late-night assignation with an anonymous paramour, Irène oversleeps and her latest fiancé suspects enough to take his ring back and kick her out. She returns to Jean, whose own charade is exposed when an English family checks into the suite he has appropriated in the wee hours before new guests begin to arrive. Ooh la la. "Priceless" pivots on a sequence of deceptions, and the willingness of Jean to do anything to get Irène to love him. Indeed, this featherweight comedy is mostly about the series of humiliations Jean must endure, and the shameless ingenuity he must acquire to crack through Irène's hard-candy veneer. Through a patch of unlikely circumstances, Jean is forced to become a gigolo at the new hotel Irène has staked out, having been adopted by a wealthy older French woman (the sublime Marie-Christine Adam). Only once Jean reaches Irène's level, the movie argues, can she see who he really is. Though, as a sacrifice to true love, becoming the pampered boy toy of an elegant cougar isn't quite the same as crawling over broken glass.
The film's contrivances are many, and its endless pimping of the Euro-chic lifestyle soon enough begs for a Robin Leach voice-over. What's fascinating, however, is Ms. Tautou's commitment to her performance, which subverts the screen persona to which most American audiences are accustomed. Irène is mean, venal, shallow, faithless, materialistic, and corrupt — obviously, a great character to play, made sympathetic because a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. And so does a guy. "Priceless" won't survive deeper scrutiny, even from those who are likely to palpitate over its every Tautou-soaked frame. It's a date-night confection: a cupcake, with caviar frosting.
