Priceless - 2006 * * *

She's stealing his heart and he's paying for it.

As keen as I was to rush into lots of Audrey Tautou after seeing 'Amelie' I thought it wise to leave it a while so that I wouldn't be constantly comparing whatever she was in to the previous movie.

I decided to start with a film that would guarantee me a good time and a laugh which is why I chose 'Priceless'.

Irene has always dated men with money, and been treated like a princess. She has also made it clear that all she is after is the money and not the love, but all that changes after a fluke meeting with Jean, a timid and impressionable bar-tender whom she meets one night in her hotel and mistakes for a millionaire(when in fact he is badly broke). Being so meek and good-natured (and also having fallen in love with her) Jean pulls out all the stops to try and impress her and win her heart instead of just her bank balance.

The sumptuous scenery and gorgeous costumes that Audrey Tautou gets to wear make the whole film a joy to watch, like a decadent and moreish treat. The comedy moves at a gentle pace and the 2 main characters seem to have real chemistry. However the reason I cannot mark it higher is because towards 2/3 of the way in the plot started to go downhill in a way which I disliked. We have spent a long time establishing a bod between Irene and Jean and then all of a sudden everything is moving speedily forward at a rate which actually alarms me. I certainly loved the first half of the movie but was put off by the second, where I felt that the characters had no direction.