Lavish hotels, champagne cocktails, diamante watches and paper umbrellas; Jean and Irene meet.

Irene (Audrey Tautou), a freelance escort who preys on wealthy men is designed to be the archetype of the twenty-first centaury gold-digger seductress: opposing Jean (Gad Elmaleh), the shy and lowly barman.

One evening at a luxuriant Parisian hotel, Irene’s latest mark, Jacques, ungracefully falls asleep in her presence. In her boredom, she wanders downstairs to the hotel bar where she discovers Jean, carelessly off duty, napping on the sofa. Unbeknown to Irene, Jean has abandoned his post behind the bar. She assumes him moneyed, hence a prosperous match.

A year goes by until they again meet. Irene is disenchanted upon learning of Jean’s humble status and flees to the south of France: Jean hopelessly follows her. At which point Irene bleeds Jean dry, teaching him his lesson and dispiriting his hopes of winning her affection once more. It is now Jean who will teach Irene a lesson for love.

Tautou’s chic yet playful girlish Irene bears similar resemblance to the free-spirited Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. However Irene has no misconceptions of life or wistful yearns and is practical in her realistic approach to life; fun, safety and survival. Moreover, Irene is not suppressed by Jean, as Paul does Holly. Rather Irene, intrigued by Jean as a newly established gigolo, attempts to coach him in her dark arts…

The wealthy widowed Madeleine (Marie-Christine Adam) decides to adopt Jean as her new play-mate. The cruel game of seducing escorted-party-goers re-begins and in return Jean receives a watch rather than dresses. However Jean has the last say and is honest to Madeleine, preventing an unceremonious dump from her, as all the old men seem to have previously done to Irene.

The film has you on tenterhooks until its end, as one fears for both Jean and Irene, wondering when they both will be left dry by their respective money-holders for good. The tenderness felt by both protagonists allows one to watch on, in the hope that they redeem themselves.

The viewer does not need to be assured of this eventual redemption and is thus reminded that it is not a Hollywood film. The amoral and innocent nature of the film’s landscape creates a confidence of the fragility of life and of another’s emotions. Pierre Salvadori has presented a heartening farce. A tad more repartee would not have done the film harm. However French allure is maintained by disposing of excessive dialogue- communication can also be done with the eyes.