I Do Movie Review

Cast: Alain Chabat, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bernadette Lafont, Grégoire Oestermann
Director: Eric Lartigau
Screenplay: Philippe Mechelen, Laurent Tirard, Grégoire Vigneron, Laurent Zeitoun and Alain Chabat (idea)
Genre: Romantic comedy
Rated: M
Running Time: 83 minutes
Synopsis:
Forty-three year old perfume designer Luis (Alain Chabat) is stirred from his comfortable existence when his mother and five sisters decide they're sick of doing his laundry and that he must find a wife (that he could start doing his own laundry is not seriously considered). The women set about pestering Luis with a range of possible candidates until finally, in desperation, he hatches a cunning plan. He will hire a woman to pretend to be his fiancée for a few weeks, after which she'll dump him at the altar, thereby silencing his family forever on the subject of marriage. The lucky woman is Emma (Charlotte Gainsbourg), his best friend's wild younger sister; she's unemployed and needs the money. Everything goes according to plan until Emma charms his family to the extent that they don't want to let her go.

My verdict:
'I Do' is light, amusing and generally good-natured but Chabret and Gainsbourg have to work hard to bring life to the rather hackneyed material. The central romance is never quite plausible; the script intent on perpetuating that old chestnut (perhaps particularly popular in France?) that a man who is willing to be 'caught' is a catch indeed and deserving of any women, even one in every way more interesting than himself. While Emma is warm, eccentric and stylish, the considerably older Luis is uptight and dull and has a rather inflated sense of his own importance. He's basically a nice guy, yes, but the behaviour required of him by the machinations of the plot makes him seem petty and foolish.

It's hard not to feel that a lot of what goes on in the story is just a waste of time and money: for instance, when Luis lets his mother spend thousands ordering expensive wine and food for his sham wedding. As in Hollywood films of the same nature, characters with apparently unlimited wealth and spare time can quickly become irksome. In the end, 'I Do' amounts to little more than a French version of the sort of comedy that might star Kate Hudson or Adam Sandler. While such films have their place, it all feels a little forced here, as though there was some conscious effort to be as mainstream as possible. But, still, 'I Do' is an entertaining confection, with Charlotte Gainsbourg and her character's fascinating clothes providing the main interest.

Rating : ***

Briony Kidd