Priceless (2008)

"Tautou is a delight, as always, using her bubbly personality to comic advantage.  Desson Thomson, The Washington Post
"Calls to mind Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise" and beguiles all the way from the parade of umbrellas decorating the opening titles to the closing credits.  Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal
"The lovely Audrey Tautou and sad-eyed Gad Elmaleh are perfectly cast as a gold digger and the poor sap who loves her...  Ken Fox, TV Guide
"...a fun and attractive ride.  Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian
"...a supremely satisfying confection -- a French romantic comedy of the sort that ends with you standing outside the theatre with a dopey grin on your face.  Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
"Tautou's kind of talent: priceless.  Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
"Unlike Salvadori's previous comedy, 2003's "Apres Vous," "Priceless" is less preposterous, and more grounded in character.  Noel Murray, The Onion A.V. Club

Editor's Note Directed by Pierre Salvadori, this delightful French comedy features AMELIE star Audrey Tautou and the charming Gad Elmaleh (THE VALET). Jean (Elmaleh) is a hardworking employee at one of southern France's elite resort hotels. He is known for his excellent work ethic, but that changes after a chance encounter with sexy hotel guest Irene (Tautou). Bored with her wealthy and much older boyfriend/benefactor, Irene is looking for some excitement. She finds it with Jean, whom she believes to be another guest at the hotel. When she discovers that he is merely an employee there, she is furious, and wants nothing more to do with him. Jean tries to rekindle their affair, but Irene lets him know that she is only interested in men with money--lots and lots of money. Jean is broke and brokenhearted, until he crosses paths with another hotel guest--this one an older woman of considerable means. He soon finds himself living the high life alongside Irene and her own rich patron. But Jean is far more interested in romance than in riches, and the glitzy fun and games quickly come to a head. The film makes the most of its dazzling location, luxuriating in the wealth and beauty of the French Riviera. The story obviously owes a firm tip of the hat to BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY's, and indeed Tautou's effortless grace and style do bring to mind Ms. Hepburn. In the hands of less skilled actors, the plot could have felt a bit flimsy, but Tautou and Elmaleh are so engaging, one can't help but root for them and their romantic hijinks.

	Jacques Spiesser
	Marie-Christine Adam
	Vernon Dobtcheff
	Audrey Tautou
	Annelise Hesme
	Gad Elmaleh
	Philippe Martin - Producer
	Benoit Graffin - Screenwriter
	Gilles Henry - Director of Photography
	Camille Bazbaz - Composer
	Pierre Salvadori - Screenwriter
	Pierre Salvadori - Director

Los Angeles Times
"Tautou and Elmaleh make a wonderfully odd couple....They're as plucky and resourceful as characters in a Preston Sturges comedy....Positively infectious." 03/28/2008

Sight and Sound
"This sassy tale of a good-time girl on the hunt for a sugar daddy will inevitably strike a chord with fans of Blake Edwards' BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S." 06/01/2008 p.73-74

Empire
3 stars out of 5 -- "Audrey Tautou dazzles....This is a charming comedy -- sparkling, seductive, sassy fun." 07/01/2008 p.62

Variety 7 of 10
A gold digger on the French Riviera unexpectedly meets her match in a mild-mannered bartender in "Priceless." Bittersweet comedy's perfectly chosen multigenerational cast ably demonstrates that if money can't buy love, it sure can purchase lots of obsequious service from four-star hotel staffers and costly goodies from laughably pricey boutiques. Co-scripter/helmer Pierre Salvadori serves up an enjoyable riff on genuine romance versus the pay-as-you-go variety...Versatile Gad Elmaleh's gift for sly physical comedy and winning facial expressions is deftly exploited in his perf as Biarritz hotel employee Jean...With an attention to wardrobe and accessories that's a language unto itself, pic employs acerbic humor to paint a landscape in which everything can be bought or sold and authentic emotion is a professional impediment...Delicate ellipses spare us the sight of young flesh servicing old. Salvadori shows us instead what can be shown: caviar and champagne, sumptuous lobbies, bespoke wardrobes and dreamy scenery...Ernst Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise" pioneered this template in 1932, but helmer provides a better-than-average update whose morally queasy elements are mostly eluded via dandy thesping...Sun-drenched lensing and peppy score keep any hint of sordidness at bay. - Lisa Nesselson

San Francisco Chronicle 8 of 10
To step back and actually look at what "Priceless" is about is to realize that it tells a pretty tasteless story about tainted characters who do some ugly, degrading things...That the movie doesn't feel that way, not one bit - that it instead feels light and bouncy and romantic - is a real achievement. Stop laughing long enough, and you'll see that it's a picture about compromised lives and love for sale. But no one who watches "Priceless" will stop laughing for that long...This, to me, is the fun of "Priceless," that double thing - the harshness wrapped in a pretty package. The movie stars Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh, who are about the only French stars that it's almost impossible to imagine having an active sex life. Their aura of innocence helps...It's pretty to look at, often very funny, but it corrupts its audience as it corrupts its characters. Elmaleh ("The Valet") is an excellent physical comedian with an expressive, big-eyed deadpan that he surely knows is reminiscent of Buster Keaton. (I think he's intentionally doing Keaton, and doing him well.) As for Tautou - the highest-paid actress in France - she has passed through her gamine phase and is fortunately through her sullen phase ("The Da Vinci Code"). Now she's getting laughs while playing a sleek and stylish woman. She has grown up, and adulthood suits her. - Mick LaSalle