(Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain)
Utterly charming French comedy drama that has proven to be a huge hit in France and is, quite rightly, tipped to be a mainstream success. In terms of plot, Amelie is a simple enough affair - the title character (Tatou) is a Parisian waitress, desperate to find love and the meaning of life. However, after a revelation, Amelie decides that the best way to attain personal fulfillment is to commit random acts of kindness and improve the lives of her motley crew of customers. While Amelie is undoubtedly a sentimental affair that has little basis in everyday reality, the excellent actors that Jeunet has assembled and the splendid performances he has coaxed out of them, makes it infectious, heady viewing material. Indeed, the only real failing here is that due to the subject matter on examination, Amelie has an occasional tendency to feel like a collection of incidents rather a complete, fully fused narrative. Still, it's a reasonably small price for such an understated delight of a movie. Go see.
