The
interconnected group of friends and lovers from Cédric Klapisch’s L’Auberge Espagnole and Russian Dolls represent a European
microcosm, but to pursue their second chances at life and love they
appropriately congregate in Lower Manhattan. Chinatown will see an influx of
Francophone expats in Klapisch’s Chinese
Puzzle (trailer
here), which
opens this Friday in New York.
Novelist
Xavier Rousseau is way behind on his latest deadline. He has been a bit
distracted by the dissolution of his marriage to the British Wendy. Following his
soon to be ex-wife to New York for the sake of his kids, Rousseau kind of-sort
of experiences fatherhood again as the sperm-donator for his best pal Isabelle
and her Chinese-American partner Ju. With little money and fewer prospects,
Rousseau crashes in Ju’s hipster-friendly Chinatown apartment. It will become
quite homey when he hosts his former lover Martine and her two children during
their New York vacation.
Will
sudden proximity rekindle their relationship? Fortunately she is rather
understanding of his green card marriage to a second generation Chinatown New
Yorker, but keeping up appearances for immigration will lead to a lot of door
slamming and mad dashing about. Yet, somehow it all still represents the mature
phase of his life.
Although
Puzzle is the concluding film of what
Klapisch calls “The Trilogy of Xavier’s Travels” (picture that on the DVD boxed
set), it easily stands alone. However, those who are emotionally invested in
the prior two installments will take great satisfaction from the nontraditional
familial bonds that develop between the characters. In fact, it might be the
most unabashedly optimistic and upbeat film for all concerned, propelled along
by Loïk Dury and Christophe “Disco” Minck’s infectiously peppy Cesar Award
nominated score.
Like
a comfortable old shoe, Romain Duris exudes loser likability as Rousseau. He also
shares some pleasant (if not exactly scorching) screen chemistry with Audrey Tautou’s
Martine. In a nice change of pace following films like The Kid with the Bike and Hereafter,
Cécile de France shows a keen facility for slightly naughty physical comedy as
the Belgian Isabelle. Strangely, the American marketing campaign is not playing
up House of Cards’ Sandrine Holt as
Ju, but she adds some class and dignity to the proceedings.
