DVD Reviews

On sale as a DVD in November, Priceless is directed by French froth vendor, Pierre Salvador in the style of Pretty Woman and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Intellectual stimulation is not the point of this French Comedy with Audrey Tautou, the star of Amelie and The Da Vinci Code, playing the lead role. But the stars are attractive, so are the sights, and sometimes a good old-fashioned flirtation preceded by a sexual romp is fun.

It is almost worth buying the DVD just for the delightful opening sequence of cartoons – a Japanese take on the French Riviera. This Amuse-Bouche hints at subsequent courses of greater complexity. But alas, nothing of great substance follows.

As a young, penniless gold digger with an eye for expensive clothes and travel, Irene has few inhibitions about jumping into bed with strangers to facilitate her simple needs; a gold-plated credit card is all she really wants from life.

As mild-mannered bartender, Jean, the Moroccan-born co-star, probably has a better role than Tatou. It allows him some development during the film.

In contrast, Tatou becomes entrapped within the limitations of the part: beautiful woman toted as handbag.

If it seems vapid at first, almost embarrassingly so, Priceless improves after Jean has blown all his money on Irene and has to take lessons from her in the art of seduction as a livelihood.

The turning point comes when Jean metamorphoses into a far more subtle character. As he does, for a marvellously taut moment, Tautou’s face becomes a fireworks display of conflicting emotions, the full depth of which she then conceals until almost the end of the film.

In real life as on screen, then. “I’m a tomb when it comes to my personal life,” she said in an interview. “I never give even a mote of dust of that away.”

From here onwards, the pace and dialogue lift to a new level. A French speaker would no doubt pick up more innuendo than I did via the sub-titles although they were so good, I failed to realise the film was in French for about 15 minutes.

Priceless won the NRJ Ciné Award for the Best Kiss (Meilleur baiser) in 2007. In England, the censorship rating is PG13 for sexual content, including nudity. Currently showing at Odeon Theatres around the country, the DVD goes on sale in November, 2008.

Buy this DVD here