French for Beginners (2006)

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Blistering performances.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This film should bring back memories to anyone who has studied abroad as a teenager in Europe, but particularly in France or Germany. The Citroen 2CVs will certainly bring back memories to older viewers! It is indeed a charming first love / romantic comedy / coming-of-age story, and the actors and actresses play their roles beautifully. It is so refreshing to see a "teenage" comedy that is not totally inane. It plays tastefully upon all the usual clichés and stereotypes about French vs German culture. It can, of course, also be used in German, French, and even EFL language classes (the DVD has both German and English subtitles) as a means to discuss cultural differences, prejudices, and stereotypes (in addition to learning German or English). The perhaps over-emphasis on teenage sexuality in some scenes will make it probably unsuitable for most high school use outside of Europe, but it is certainly suitable for college use in discussing cultural differences.

The story is simple: boy loves girl and to get her attention he must make some sacrifices - in this case that means traveling with her to France without knowing the language or the country. The acting is wonderful, Paula as Valerie and Francois as Hendrik are very credible.The film is very romantic, with many vivid dialogs playing charmingly with both French and German clichés. Sometimes the story seems a bit too exaggerated but most of the time this movie is very enjoyable and does a great job in recalling the viewer of his own experiences with the French language and the country - if he has them.However, if you don't know anything about France and never took French in school you will probably have a hard time understanding some aspects of the movie, unfortunately, those are the important aspects. Subtract those and the movie is only half as good, a romantic teenage love story with few differences to so many others. But if you have any connection to France or its language, you should see this movie, regardless if you like France or you hate it - there is stuff for both its lovers and haters.