L'arnacoeur
When it comes to break-ups... he's the business
Rating: 8/10
Running Time: 105 minutes
UK Certificate: 15
Its always nice when Romcoms have a little substance, appeal to both sexes and dont star Matthew McConaughey. Heartbreaker ticks all these boxes and more.
Alex Lippi (Duris) is one of those guys man-kind loves to hate – he’s good looking with incredibly trendy non-Ginger facial hair, he smooth-talking and he’s French – all the things that make us flawed specimens look daft. This floppy haired anti-hero is employed by an agency to break up couples by seducing the female. Most of the time this seems pretty easy but his latest task is to prevent a beautiful French woman (Paradis) from marrying a millionaire English suitor (Lincoln) who seems to be a perfect match for her. The catch is that as he needs this pay off within a week to pay back the gangsters he owes before he gets nobbled.
This impressive solo Directorial debut from Frenchie Pascal Chaumeil Heartbreaker is a nice mixture of romance, comedy and action and even contains a couple of gangsters. Heartbreaker manages to be charming and clever with slick production and engrossing action. It also boasts a Mediterranean setting that is very easy on the eye and a little different The characters remain likeable and the mood upbeat despite featuring most of humanity’s worst traits throughout the film which is a credit to the acting and Chaumeil at the helm.
What’s more is it is much better than so many other recent romcoms that tried to be different – The Ugly Truth, Bounty Hunter and Killers to name a few – but succeeded in only making me want to slap Gerard Butler (I know he wasn’t in all of these but I still wanted to). A couple of problems lie in the slight overuse of slapstick but that can be forgiven as it seems to be an indelibly French trait that cannot be cured overnight. Overall Heartbreaker is a charming, funny romantic comedy with a dash of action, to suit most tastes.
It's Got: Humour, romance, action, appeal accross boundaries.
It Needs: A little less slapstick
Summary
Romance, laughs, action, gangsters – there’s something for almost everyone in this slick Monte Carlo-set French romcom