This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Alex (Romain Duris) runs a specialty service to entice women into breaking up with their mates. Alex, his sister Mélanie (Julie Ferrier) and her husband Marc (François Damiens) are hired by friends and families of these women. The trio has a few rules. The most important one is that the women are unhappy in their relationship and Alex vows never to fall for any of the women. A gangster hires them to break up his daughter Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) and Englishman Jonathan (Andrew Lincoln) before their marriage in 10 days. The problem is that the couple seems perfect together but Alex desperately needs the money.Apparently, Romain Duris is a french movie star. I wouldn't know. He comes off as yet another scruffy dirty Frenchman with pretensions of being a sex symbol. The problem is that he's suppose to be dripping in charm and I don't see it. The language barrier could also have something to do with it. I've never had much luck with French comedies. The heart of what the group does is actually pretty sleazy. I don't mind it but the movie insists on coating it with a superficial happy good intention. The whole thing is manufactured awkwardness and it rubs me the wrong way. Vanessa Paradis has supermodel looks and is acting down to that supermodel level. The love of Dirty Dancing is endearing and it has some cute moments. Overall, I don't care about these characters.

Often I wonder at how much better films made in continental Europe often seem to be than typical English-language movies; of course, part of the explanation may simply be that, as a resident of England, one only tends to see the best of European cinema. And as if to prove the point, here comes 'Hertabreaker', a film whose sole raison d'etre appears to be to demonstrate that the French can make a romantic comedy every bit as drearily predicable as the Americans. All the expected elements are here: the grand wedding, the affluent backdrop, the preposterously constructed plot, the nymphomaniac best friend, the character who falls in love without meaning to, the heavy reliance on a familiar soundtrack, and of course, the eventual, inevitable choice between two very different men. Just as predictable is the absence of any real laughs. Right at the end, I did wonder if the film was going to surprise me with a departure from the normal ending for this kind of rubbish; I won't spoil the plot by stating whether or not it did, but I will say that by this point, I was well past caring either way.

Brilliant French romantic comedy which punches above its weight. Funny, classy, wry, surprising the audience here and there. Shot on location, we had fun recognizing the spots in Morocco and Monaco, and we also enjoyed the soundtrack and references to George Michael and to "Dirty Dancing".In the discussion boards, some people complained that "the leading actors have bad teeth"... That's precisely part of this film's charm: the leading actors are not standardized, plastic-like, Ken and Barbie dolls! They look more real with all their natural imperfections. But if you want Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, don't worry: there is bound to be an American remake of this coming soon...! (Probably set in Miami Beach with Queen Latifah and Eddie Murphy in the supporting roles).

It is perhaps impolitic to say so, but Vanessa Paradis may just have the ugliest set of teeth to blight the mouth of any leading actor, French or otherwise, in the 100 year history of cinema. I mention this not to be cruel, but to highlight one of the fundamental problems with this movie, which is namely - its leading lady looks like a hastily costumed, warmed-up corpse. An avid observer of French cinema might shrug this off as an irrelevancy, but for a populist movie with ambitions to appeal to a broader, Anglophile audience, it is no small detail that the purported object of desire in a movie framed as a "romantic comedy" is frankly, pretty undesirable. Ms Paradis is no doubt a woman of many fine qualities and abilities, but it is apparent in her performance that she is either acutely self-conscious of - or has been directed to avoid - showing her teeth. This limits her facial expression to the degree that her character in the movie is utterly devoid of any warmth or other noticeable, agreeable signs of humanity. This issue is further compounded by a trite and mostly unfunny script, throughout which Ms Paradis and the rest of the ensemble look constipated. I'm pretty sure that's not just a French thing, either. This is a film to be avoided at all costs. If you find the concept of the movie too compelling to resist, at least wait for the English language remake due any time soon, which by rights could only improve on this Gallic disaster.