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AMELIE Send This Review to a Friend
At 23 Audrey Tautou has become a major French star, thanks largely to the box office success there of "Amelie," which American audiences are now getting a chance to see. Tautou flashes mesmerizing, playfully alive eyes and radiates sunny charm in this light-hearted, offbeat romp directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, best known for his film "Delicatessen." Some may find the charm a bit excessive, but Parisian audiences have been flocking to enjoy this enormous (by French standards) hit, which bids to find success this side of the Atlantic as well.
Tautou as Amelie is a waitress in a small Paris café. The plot catalyst is her discovery of a box with various items hidden under the floorboards of her apartment. She decides to return the contents to their owner, and she is delighted to observe how his life changes as a result. Now Amelie has a mission. She is going to be an anonymous do-gooder who attempts to change the lives of others for the better. The film's charm rests on the succession of such escapades, assorted characters involved and Amelie's mischievous ingenuity.
Of course, there is an added twist. Amelie's own life needs help too, and in the process of doing good deeds for others her own salvation can be found. The potential comes in the person of Nino, with a casting coup of Mathieu Kassovitz, a noted director as well as an actor popular at the moment, playing the role.
Jeunet cleverly works to keep the film frothy, kooky, funny, quickly-paced and packed with his vision of Parisian atmosphere. But ultimately its real strength unquestionably rests on the ebullient performance of Tautou. A Miramax Zoe release.
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