So many movie gems are found by serendipity. In the case of Heartbreaker (L’arnacœur), a 2010 French romantic-comedy, discovered at a recent screening at the university. The trio of Alex (Romain Duris), his sister and her husband are in a special business, that of breaking up a girl in love. They take the contract from the victim’s relatives and Alex becomes the heartbreaker, who will floor the girl with his charms and thus show her the inadequacy of her current partner. Their undefeated streak runs into trouble when they are hired to break up Juliette (Vanessa Paradis), who is marrying an Englishman in 10 days at Monaco. The trio set up elaborate plots to give Alex a shot at her, none of which work and meanwhile Alex actually falls in love with her.
Heartbreaker is a truly entertaining movie arriving after a long dry spell in the rom-com genre! Engaging from the opening scene itself, the movie totally rests on the cocksure and comical Romain Duris. The sunny glamourous setting of Monaco, the Frenchness (if there is something like that), the racing plot and the romantic ending, all complement the movie nicely. Funny in every other scene, Heartbreaker never takes itself seriously and yet captured me in a rapture that ended only when the credits rolled.
movie.maathu 