Romantics Anonymous (2010)

How sad is this?

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

After spending 4 hours getting a virus out of my laptop and spending an hour fixing the freezer,I felt like staying away from anything complex,and watching an easy-going flick! Taking a look at Netflix UK,I spotted what appeared to be a charming French Romantic Comedy,which led to me getting ready to find out how anonymous the romantics could be.The plot:Suffering from social anxiety, Angélique Delange finds herself unable to show her chocolate making skills with confidence.Also suffering with social anxiety,sweet shop owner M. Mercier tells Delange that he will sell her chocolate,and make up a tale about who the chef is,so that she can pretend to just be a sales rep. Accepting the offer, Delange and Mercier are thrilled to hear from customers over the next 7 years that this is the best chocolate they have ever had.Taking the latest batch to the shop,Delange is shocked to discover that Mercier has suddenly died.After mourning the loss of Mercier, Delange decides to follow Mercier's praise of her chocolate,and get a job at The Chocolate Mill.Finding Mill owner Jean-René Van Den Hugde to have a burning passion for chocolate,Delange is horrified to find that the business is about to go bankrupt,which leads to Delange deciding to do everything she can to stop The Chocolate Mill turning into a chocolate teapot.View on the film: Diving into the chocolate,co-writer/(along with Philippe Blasband) director Jean-Pierre Améris & cinematographer Gérard Simon make the movie look like a diamond-crusted box of chocolates,as rustic greens and ruby reds painted with glossy chocolate.For the screenplay,the writers give the film an enchanting fairy tale atmosphere,with the message about facing your fears being poured with a delicate touch.Keeping away from hard boiling the romance,the writers stir the romance between Hugde & Delange into a light mix,by giving each of them terrifically awkward quarks,which leads to very funny bumbling set-pieces,as Hugde and Delange try to taste a velvety finish.Chaging in and out of his shirts, Benoît Poelvoorde gives a great performance as Hugde,thanks to Poelvoorde swaying Hugde's bag of nerves to the adorable,rather than the annoying side of things.Kicking her heels in happiness,the cute Isabelle Carré gives a joyful performance as Delange,whose kooky edges Carré turns into a wonderful match to Hugde's anxiety,as Delange and Hugde put the romantic anonymous inside a box of chocolates.

i loved the story line. i loved the apprehension in the 2 main characters. there were no unnecessary scenes. it was a rom-com with a great ending. the genuineness of the film was a great add and the story was believable. if you want a great original french film with the true detail of being French then i suggest you watch this movie. kind of reminded me of along came polly minus the ferret. cute and would def watch it over and over again. sometimes you have to take a chance in life and even give chance a chance. sounds corny but its true. what i got from the story is: you can't always react reactively to circumstances, sometimes if you take it for what it is, step back and let things find a way to take its course, it may just happen, and you get a little extra push when its least expected. wish netflix didn't remove it.

Why do the French do everything with so much more finesse than we do? Jean-Pierre Ameris brings us the simplest of love stories, with characters who touch your soul, and with humorous twists that surprise and delight. Romantics Anonymous is a must-see. Must I tell you.Halfway through watching this fine film (on Netflix) I felt I could not go another minute without a piece of chocolate. We are not talking about a Hershey bar; I had to drive sixteen miles each way to Chatham Manor Chocolates for a few of their chocolate-covered caramels (without the salt) and then hightail it back to my house to watch the second half of the movie while savoring the sensuous chocolate in the way the movie demands. Clearly Director and Writer, Ameris, like most French people, knows his chocolate, and the movie is better for it. "The flavors will penetrate the chocolate. Impregnate it." Sexual. Sensual. Sensational. To ensure you need not leave in the middle, be sure and have some really fine chocolate on hand.Did I mention it's funny? Laugh-out-loud funny even as it makes you feel empathy for the painful way these two people, Jean-Rene, the chocolate factory owner, and Angelique, the secret chocolate maker, who he hires to do sales. Both of them try — and keep trying — to live in a world that is very difficult for them to navigate. He has them repeat statements just made to them in a way that is laugh out loud funny, confirming their issues. Two painfully shy people whose faces could make a hardened criminal apologize for frightening them. Two people who have a passion for chocolate and a long unfulfilled need to be loved. I loved them both. I'm so glad they loved each other.Benoit Poelvoorde, who plays Jean-Rene, is an Inspector Clouseau clone but better. While Clouseau was unaware of his own ridiculousness, our Jean-Rene Van Den Hugde is painfully aware of his. That awareness is what makes him so compelling — and a stronger character than Clouseau. His innocent presentation of his Achilles heel shyness, and his running away to regroup at every difficult moment, is moving and so very well done. And yet, he never gives up, which makes us pause to consider our own ability to walk away when the going gets tough. Isabelle Carre, Jean-Rene's Angelique, is as pure as chocolate itself. She's humble, wears a dimple next to her mouth that I have never seen the likes of on anyone before. A hopeful smile that you could practice in front of a mirror for years and never get right. The two together are magic.Ameris uses the camera in a way that follows his thought process that I haven't seen done before. For example, when Jean-Rene is interviewing Angelique for a job, the camera goes back and forth between the two over and over again, even when they aren't speaking. It helps emphasize the discomfort between them, the anxiety that silence causes for two people who are not ready for its intimacy. Back and forth, back and forth. But instead of making our heads spin, it simulates the characters' anxiety for us. Great technique. Others should try it. Works better than words.Lest you think my love is blind, there are a few flaws. There is a scene that is reminiscent of Notting Hill. In Notting Hill, Hugh Grant looks at his friends when he realizes he's made a mistake in rejecting Julia Roberts, and they all pile into a small car and speed off to correct the error before it's too late. They are all a bit ridiculous, but in a sweet way, not a silly way. I thought it was a nice scene. Romantics Anonymous has the same moment. Jean-Rene is explaining to his Keystone Cop chocolate factory workers that he has walked from the chocolate maker extraordinaire and love of his life, and they make the same plea as Hugh Grant's posse for him to get it right, and hurry. They pile into a car too small for the group and head out to find her. It's the same scene, although the Romantics Anonymous scene is ever so much better. Subtle. Stronger acting. OK, French.So two shy people meet and fall in love. They find it hard to make it work, and in the end, they know they are meant to be together. The other flaw is the ending. Running down the street leaving everyone in the church waiting for them? Not so much. Silly, and not in a good way, like Runaway Bride. (Could it be that Ameris has a Roberts/Grant thing?) It's beneath these fabulous characters. Ameris should have ended at the moment when Jean-Rene opens the wardrobe to find her waiting and directed the two to head down the hallway to their wedding. Trust me on this and edit it for the DVD version.So, load up on a few pieces of chocolate and download this fabulous film.

ROMANTICs ANONYMOUS puts the comedy back into the so-called rom-com genre. Relying at least 50% on physical comedy, theaters should post "Warning: Raucous Laughter Zone" notifications when exhibiting this film, if my audience at the CMU film festival was representative. Despite the primitive conditions outlined in my review of PURPLE: ORGANIZED CRIME IN A SMALL TOWN, this show was thoroughly enjoyable (mostly because A)it was 100 times more professionally produced, and B)the CMU French club hosted it, instead of the ripped-off students in the so-called Chippewa film department). Title characters played by Benoit Poelvoorde and Isabelle Carre are totally formidable here--particularly Carre, who even jumps up and clicks her heels after her first kiss in the alley outside his failing chocolate factory from Poelvoorde. If you can picture a straight Willie Wonka without Oompah Loompahs strutting around doing a seven dwarfs imitation, and then throw in the spirit of all those madcap battle of the sexes comedies Hollywood churned out in the 1930s, you will begin to have a sense of what a true gem the subtitled ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS actually is. (My summary is the funniest line in the movie, by the way, as you'll see if you watch it.)