Priceless (2006)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

If "Hors de Prix" ("Priceless" ) is supposed to be romantic or a comedy, it has some plot problems which work against it. Part of it is that I am indeed old fashioned, but even common sense tells you that Jean is going about finding love in a ridicuous and self-defeating fashion! In other words, "Kids: Don't Try This at Home!".When the story begins, Jean (Gad Elmaleh) is working as a bartender in a very upscale hotel. His night has been very slow and when Irène (Audrey Tautou) comes to the bar, she mistakes him for one of the hotel's rich patrons. Soon, they end up in bed together. Later, they repeat this...and the man who is footing the bill for Irène discovers this is happening and cuts her off. Now, in need of a rich sugar daddy, she returns to Jean...not knowing he's just a lowly working man. He doesn't realize that she is, in fact, a lowly working woman...albeit a very high priced one! And, in order to impress her and keep her, he spends what little he has on her...and it disappears very, very quickly.So, Jean is a liar and beds a woman on false pretenses. And, Irène is a high priced call girl. Sounds like the ideal basis for a relationship, don't you think? And that is my problem with the film. While the actors were very good, I just couldn't get past the fact that they were very selfish and unlikable...especially Irène. As for Jean, he was just completely foolish and his indiscretions only get worse! Normally, you should like characters in a film...particularly a romantic comedy. But here they just seemed selfish and awful...and it ruined the experience for me.

Inspired by director Blake Edwards 1961's film, 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' & director, William Wyler 1953's 'Roman Holiday', 'Priceless' is a 2006 French film directed by Pierre Salvadori that I found, nearly unwatchable. Don't get me wrong, I like the first part of the film, where beautiful, scheming opportunist gold digger, Irène Mercier (Audrey Tautou) mistakes love-struck hotel bellboy/bartender Jean Simon (Gad Elmaleh) for a millionaire. The way that Jeans try his hardest to keep up the façade, so they can fall in love is a bit charming. It made a lot of great comedy moments that I laugh, throughout. However, it's the second half of the film, where the ugliness of both of these unlikeable characters really did shown. First off, Irene really does mistreat Jean, quite a lot in this film, like forcing him to save her, by pay for expensive dresses, hotels and dinners, when he really doesn't have to, and then running off with another man, after Jean's money run dry. She's so horrible that she left him with expensive hotel bills to pay as well. That's really cold. I really don't get, why Jean would allow himself to be, mistreated like that. She doesn't help once, pay the bills. Why is he so smitten by her!? Another problem with the film, is Jean's over-stalking behavior. He really does seem creepy at parts of the film, by staking restaurants bars & hotels lobbies for her presence. He even calls her lover's room pretending to be room service. Who does that? Another good example of this, was the dinner scene with Irene trying to date another millionaire. The idea, that he was watching the whole scene in the background, is a bit disturbing. Ask any women, out there in the world, and they will agree with me. Having your ex-lover, peeping tom you, while you're on a date is not romantic at all. However, the worst thing about this movie is, how Irène & Jean were conning others lovers, to fund their lavish lifestyle in exchange for companionship and sex. The combine cheating and greedy nature between these two people is nearly unbearable. It's doesn't help that the victims, French businessman, Gilles (Jacques Spiesser) & mature heiress/widow, Madeleine (Marie-Christine Adam) weren't really bad people. After all, Madeleine did help Jean with the hotel bill, after Irène leaves him, for another man & Gilles isn't a lazy drunk, like Irene's elderly ex-lover, Jacques (Vernon Dobtcheff). Jean and Irene had no reason, to mistreat their sponsors like that. It's not like, they were doing it for good causes, supporting their poor or sickly family members. They were just doing it, for selfish shallow reasons. Yes, I get that the film slowly exposes the realization that money can never buy love and happiness, toward the end, but that was far too late, and not really explore that well. There was very little redemption. It's sucks, because I honestly like, both Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh as actors. They were wonderful in other films like 2001's 'Amélie' & 2011's 'Midnight in Paris'. Plus, they really do have chemistry with each other, and seem like good people in real-life, but their screen presence really didn't 'Priceless', worth the price of admission. Instead, I got really turn off by the posh attitude of their characters. In my opinion, the real star of this film is the exotic French Riviera. The cities of Cote d'Azure are really beautiful. It's too bad, the weak European haute first world conflict makes this escapism film, somewhat unrelated to me, a middle class citizen of the United States. I found the film to be a very snobby and predictable. I guess, the culture clash between French & Americans are just too different to related to. Despite that, the best thing about the film isn't its dialogue. It's the use of stares, and body language that really drives the story, forward. A good example of this, is the moment, they reunited after months of not seeing each other. Another great thing about this film is how film music speaks more volume than French words. Most of the music really has that French harmonica that I love. The score 'Scooter' is a treat to the ears that remind me of fun 1970s French Wave music. Composter, Camille Bazbaz really did a great job with the soundtrack. Overall: 'Priceless' has its sweet moments, but too few of them for me. Way too superficial and extensive for my taste. I can't recommended watching.

Priceless is a French film directed by Pierre Salvadori and it stars Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh together with Marie-Christine Adam,Vernon Dobtcheff,Jacques Spiesser and Annelise Hesme. A woman who has never had much trouble choosing between love or money tries to teach a man the tricks of the trade in this sly romantic comedy.According to the director, the film is inspired by the 1961 Blake Edwards film, Breakfast at Tiffany's.Irène is an attractive thirty-something woman who lives a comfortable life by taking up with older and very wealthy men. Irène is serving as arm candy for Jacques, who is twice her age and quite rich; Jacques takes Irène on a vacation to a resort in the French Riviera for her birthday, where she meets Jean, a handsome bartender at the hotel who works a variety of odd jobs to keep himself afloat. While Jacques spends Irène's birthday sound asleep, she ends up enjoying a romantic evening with Jean, until she discovers he's broke. A year later, Jacques and Irène return to the resort, and Jean discovers he still carries a torch for her. Irène is not so interested until Jacques decides he's had enough of her and breaks off their relationship; suddenly forced to fend for herself, Irène turns to Jean for help. Jean, meanwhile, has learned that Madeleine, a handsome and very well-to-do widow in her sixties, has her eye on him and wishes to make Jean her kept man. Jean asks Irène to give him a crash course in the fine art of being a gigolo, while Irène tries to get back in the game by taking up with Gilles. Slowly but surely, Irène and Jean realize how much they care for one another.The appealing actors make up for the fact that they're portraying prostitutes. They are putting their bodies up for sale, but saving their hearts for true love. After all, that's the only thing that's priceless.That is what makes this film truly wonderful despite of being its somewhat ludicrous screenplay.It is worth to note that it features sharp performances from Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh. It is hugely enjoyable and utterly charming.

This is a light and seems-innocuous romantic comedy. A straightforward love story between a deadpan hotel waiter (Gad) and a materialistic gold-digger (Audrey) whose sole life purpose is to find an old but rich man to pay for the bills of her high-priced lifestyle. Without didactic persuasion, this film surprisingly contrives another plot to turn Gad into a money boy as well (though the process is bound to crudity and in lack of credibility). With the premise that as long as for true love, one should not feel ashamed of selling himself for money, clearly there is a double moral criteria here between man and woman (I have a grudge against the film as it gives a very bad example of showing its audiences how easy an ordinary man could be hooked up by an elder rich lady). The rich people in the film is never fully- developed that's why the whole story is closer to a modern day fairytale. Audrey Tautou manages to show her glamor gracefully in spite of her role's repugnant character, her acting is convincing and watchable, at the same time Gad Elmaleh's also proves his charm with a slower pace. So when it comes to the predictable finale, I have no further complain about it. Details in the film reveal a lot of effort of the director and writers, such as the little blue umbrella, a set piece of one euro, the prevarication scheme etc. Anyway it is a typical French romance, with a high moral standard in the end, there is no need to ponder upon its procedures.