L'arnacoeur aka Heartbreaker with Romain Duris

L'arnacoeur aka Heartbreaker with Romain Duris

L'arnacoeur is phenomenal.

And that is in large part due to the mesmerizing Romain Duris.

This film is on my list of best twenty motion pictures and I have enjoyed it the day before yesterday, seeing it for a second time.

It is as charming as L'auberge Espagnole.

The performances are as fabulous as in De Battre Mon Coeur C'est Arrete, where we can see the same magnificent Romain Duris in the leading role.

L'arnacoeur is the Heartbreaker.

Alex is the main character and he has a business, run with his sister and brother in law.

Melanie, the sister and her husband, Marc are helping Alex to...break hearts.

Marc is interpreted by the funny, excellent François Damiens.

We see them at work, from the beginning of the film, somewhere in the North of Africa, in Morocco.

This man is enticed with a leaflet advertising a wet t shirt contest and the view of a beautiful young woman at the pool.

When his lover is talking of the trip they have planned, he is not interested.

The Heartbreaker team has all lined up, with a man in the market talking about the doctor, Alex in his role for that operation.

The target is taken on ride by this generous, kind and romantic young man, who helps children.

They stop on the way at this place with many kids that the doctor supposedly knows by name, for he so generously visits regularly.

He makes a mistake, calling Ahmed, Ali or viceversa, but it does not matter.

The young woman is thrilled and overwhelmed.

Sister and the other accomplice are waiting in the dunes with the birds that will contribute to the conquest.

One refuses to fly, but no secret conspiracy can run without a flaw.

Alex turns a distorted face towards the audience and he makes an effort to cry, because this is part of the technique and adds to his appeal.

- Mission accomplished!

We now learn about the values, the credo of this trio.

They only deal with unhappy women.

Alex would never interfere when the woman loves her partner or/and is happy.

Sex is not involved and we seem to have here the most responsible, moral, ethical enterprise...

Some hilarious scenes follow, presenting the achievements of the trio.

A Japanese woman is seduced by the hero disguised as an Oriental cook, with a pony tail, a police woman is taken off her feet by a fake prisoner, an office white collar worker is attracted by the same man, now washing the windows of the skyscraper where she works.

But the substance of the film is only now about to be revealed.

A new job involves Juliette aka the wondrous Vanessa Paradis, who is about to get married to Jonathan, a rich, smart, attractive Prince Charming.

The Heartbreaker team prepares for the attack.

Their homework includes photographs, surveillance, research, trying to find the weak spots.

Alas, there seems to be none.

Alex is hired as the bodyguard, supposedly, by the father of the bride to be and the man who will pay, if the separation is successful.

Juliette refuses to play along, even asking the bodyguard how much would he take to just leave her alone...

- € 50,000 he says

And she writes a check

Both her family and that of Jonathan are very wealthy.

Other tricks have to be used, so Melanie pretends to be a biker, hurt in the middle on the road and as Juliette tries to help, she jumps, takes the bag and the car and runs off.

The bodyguard runs after the attacker, who is waiting at the pre established place, takes the car and the purse back.

Melanie wanted to keep the bag, for it was a Hermes, but it's impossible, for the plan to work.

However, she has the chance to payback, because in this same scheme, Alex has to get a punch in the nose, so that Juliette would feel compassion.

And she does and hires the man who knows everything about her.

And starts to use that, pretending to like George Michael, whose songs are broadcast by Marc, who is following in their special Van.

He has in his luggage and let's slip a DVD of Dirty Dancing, with which he is so familiar...

He danced with Marc to get to know all the moves.

Alex is charming, funny, attractive, fresh, unpredictable, modest...the perfect man.

True, so is Jonathan, but Alex is more, I don't know, authentic.

Juliette is ready to forget about the wedding, moving towards another victory for L'arnacoeur and co.

Counterintuitively, Alex pulls out.

When Juliette comes to him and says that they should just run away together, he refuses.

He knows he has lied, approached and seduced her on false pretenses.

This fantastic film does not end here, but this is where I stop.