aka I DO: HOW TO GET MARRIED AND STAY SINGLE
aka PRETE-MOI TA MAIN
Movie Review by Susan Hodgetts
Starring: Alain Chabat, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bernadette Lafont, Wladimir Yordanoff
Director: Eric Lartigau
This rom-com with a French twist starring comedian Alain Chabat is sweet and entertaining but nothing ground-breaking.
Luis (Chabat) makes his career with his nose. No, he’s not a cocaine dealer but a perfume sniffer, creating delectable scents for women everywhere. However when it comes to actually settling down with one (a woman, that is, not a perfume) he’s just not interested. His mother and five sisters make life easy for Luis: they do his washing and generally perform all the domestic duties of a wife. On top of this, he receives the physical duties of a wife regularly with enough one-night stands to keep him happy. One day his sisters decide this has gone on for too long. They have had enough of ironing his pants. He must get married.
The sisters set about selecting potential candidates with gusto – until Luis realises the only way out of this quandary is to hatch his own plan, namely to find a woman he can pay to pretend to be his fiancee, only for her to stand him up on his wedding day. He hopes this will lead his family to never mention weddings again. Naturally, in the vein of all good comedies, it proves tougher than he thinks.
The film benefits from nice performances from Chabat and Charlotte Gainsbourg as said pretend fiancee, antique restorer Emmanuelle, and an excellent ensemble cast. The script has some funny moments and it is charming; entertaining but forgettable.
