Nouvelle chance

2006 Drama | Comedy
55%

Augustin Dos Santos, the cheerfully eccentric struggling actor played by Jean-Chretien Sibertin-Blanc in Augustin and Augustin, Roi du King-Fu, returns to the screen in this comedy from France. Augustin brings his one man show to a retirement home, where he learns one of the residents is Odette St. Gilles (Danielle Darrieux), who was a noted singer and actress in her youth. Despite her advanced age, Odette is as alert as ever, and she expresses great admiration for Augustin's performance. A few days after the show, Augustin wrangles a commission from French representatives of a Swedish glass-making concern to provide entertainment during a visit from the home office's top brass. Augustin has been asked to whip up a show that's typically French, and when he decides his own material doesn't quite fit the description, he asks Odette for help. Odette suggests they stage an adaptation of the correspondence between Madame du Deffand and Julie de Lespinasse, and Augustin agrees, hiring out-of-work television actress Bettina Fleischer (Arielle Dombasle) as Odette's co-star and half-bright thug Franck (Christophe Vandevelde) as their love interest. However, it doesn't take long for Augustin to discover working with Odette is more of a challenge than he expected. Oh La La! (aka Nouvelle Chance) received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide