Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Unpolished and ultra-pragmatic industrialist Jean-Jacques Castella reluctantly attends Racine's tragedy "Berenice" in order to see his niece play a bit part. He is taken with the play's strangely familiar-looking leading lady Clara Devaux. During the course of the show, Castella soon remembers that he once hired and then promptly fired the actress as an English language tutor. He immediately goes out and signs up for language lessons. Thinking that he is nothing but an ill-tempered philistine with bad taste, Clara rejects him until Castella charms her off her feet.
Agnès Jaoui's ensemble French comedy-drama is a charming, perceptive look at class, taste, and romantic misconnection. The plot is nicely layered with multiple interlocking relationships and a warm, observational wit, though it never quite transcends its modest ambitions. Acting is solid throughout, with naturalistic performances from a skilled ensemble. Cinematography is functional and unshowy — competent but unremarkable, befitting its low-key realist register. Novelty is modest but real: the film has a distinctive French social comedy voice and an unusually empathetic treatment of a boorish protagonist's cultural awakening, though it doesn't reinvent the genre. The ending is satisfying and tonally consistent without being particularly surprising.