Romain Duris is a celebrated actor in his native France and a recognized face in world cinema. He’s young, charismatic, and versatile — attributes that make him an ideal candidate for crossover success — so why is he largely unknown to American moviegoers? Unfortunately, Duris is working against a Hollywood system that insists on recycling its male stars. Although two of his past films — L’Auberge Espagnole and The Beat That My Heart Skipped — were critically praised and had success in their limited American releases, he hasn’t really had an opportunity to break out or even be noticed here beyond perhaps Le Divorce. However, Duris’ latest effort as Alex Lippi in director Pascal Chaumeil’s Heartbreaker will hopefully bring him some deserved recognition stateside.
Here’s the story: Alex is a professional Romeo and master of disguise, operating a niche business with his sister (Julie Ferrier) and her husband Marc (Francois Damiens). The business, designed to break up relationships, dupes unwitting lovers with elaborate schemes and outrageous hijinx, but it’s on the verge of bankruptcy because Alex spends their profits on Italian suits and illicit ventures. To get the company out of the red and save his own ass, Alex takes a lucrative job that contradicts his only ethical principle: with true love, he shan’t intervene. With their careers in the balance and 10 days to stop sophisticated heiress Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) from marrying her seemingly perfect fiancé, the team descends upon Monte Carlo. But Juliet turns out to be a tough mark and when Alex becomes her bodyguard (spoiler alert!), he begins to fall for her.
If my abbreviated plot summary sounds fairly banal, it should. The plot is farcically trivial. This is a film that has no qualms with the tropes of romantic comedy. In fact, it plays almost exclusively within the genre’s conventions. However, its characters are tactfully drawn and the situational-comedy is often hilarious. While Duris is the obvious standout, displaying his range in mock action sequences and Dirty Dancing-inspired numbers, Damiens manages to steal some scenes with lively Jerry Lewis-style slapstick. As Alex’s older sister, Ferrier is supposed to be the level-headed one, but she portrays the character with enough verve to make her comedic presence known. Their interplay comes off natural and rarely forced, as if they’ve worked the shtick before. With the team frequently costumed and sending up stereotypes, they become role players in a ribald carnivalesque drama.
Heartbreaker is very aware of its lightheartedness and disposability, never attempting to be more than a crowd-pleasing affair. Watching the film for its narrative is pointless; you already know the ending (assuming you’ve seen a Drew Barrymore or Hugh Grant film). There are so many cinema reference points and pop culture nuggets that the movie develops a tone of freewheeling homage to the genre’s cloying romanticism, hearkening back to spy thrillers and even pulling off a bit about George Michael and Wham! without derailing. This film is unoriginal and unapologetic, and if didn’t have an exceptional cast and a laugh-heavy screenplay, it probably would’ve been a disaster.
Given Hollywood’s recent history, there’s a good chance that Heartbreaker will be remade and thoroughly botched for audiences that can’t read subtitles. Such is the way of greedy men. My guess is that Cameron Diaz and Bradley Cooper will be featured, because apparently the average viewer lusts after them. If it is rehashed, though, there’s no reason Duris shouldn’t be involved. He’s an ideal international Casanova.
