FRENCH GIRL
(director/writer: James A. Woods, Nicolas Wright; cinematographer: Jean-Francois Lord; editor: Yvann Thibaudeau; cast: Zach Braff (Gordon Kinski), Evelyne Brochu (Sophie-Jeanne Tremblay), Vanessa Hudgens (Ruby), Luc Picard (Sophie’s father), Isabelle Vincent (Sophie’s mother), Antoine Olivier Pilon (Junior Tremblay , Sophie’s brother), Charlotte Aubin (Juliette Tremblay Sofie’s sister); producers: Valerie d’Auteuil, Tim Ringuette; Paramount Global Content Distribution; Canada-in English & French, with English subtitles)
“The superficial rom-com is filled with cliches, laugh-free slapstick comedy and awkward relationship moments.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A Canadian flavored rom-com directed and written by Canadian filmmakers James A. Woods (“The Right Kind of Wrong”) and Nicolas Wright (“White House Down”).
Gordon Kinski (Zach Braff) is an English teacher in a Brooklyn middle school who lives with his French Canadian girlfriend Sophie (Évelyne Brochu) in Brooklyn. They move to her hometown of Quebec City when she’s offered an interview for a choice chef job by the new restaurant the famed chef Ruby (Vanessa Hudgens) is opening, who was Sophie’s former lover. The teach doesn’t know this (which is the film’s running gag).
Comedy is dished out when Gordon meets her parents (Luc Picard, Isabelle Vincent) for the first time and they wax poetic over Ruby but find little that’s good to say about him.
When the manipulative Ruby gives Sophie a big kiss just when Gordon comes home, we’ve got ourselves a sitcom love triangle situation.
The superficial rom-com is filled with cliches, laugh-free slapstick comedy and awkward relationship moments. Masculine insecurity is broached but nothing pressing is said about it.
It tries hard for laughs when Gordon is chased by a goose, a scene the filmmakers mistakenly thought would be a real knee slapper.
If this was a gourmet meal it would need a better quality of food, more spices and more efficient servers.
REVIEWED ON 9/2/2024 GRADE: C
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