If "Hors de Prix" ("Priceless" ) is supposed to be romantic or a comedy, it has some plot problems which work against it. Part of it is that I am indeed old fashioned, but even common sense tells you that Jean is going about finding love in a ridicuous and self-defeating fashion! In other words, "Kids: Don't Try This at Home!".When the story begins, Jean (Gad Elmaleh) is working as a bartender in a very upscale hotel. His night has been very slow and when Irène (Audrey Tautou) comes to the bar, she mistakes him for one of the hotel's rich patrons. Soon, they end up in bed together. Later, they repeat this...and the man who is footing the bill for Irène discovers this is happening and cuts her off. Now, in need of a rich sugar daddy, she returns to Jean...not knowing he's just a lowly working man. He doesn't realize that she is, in fact, a lowly working woman...albeit a very high priced one! And, in order to impress her and keep her, he spends what little he has on her...and it disappears very, very quickly.So, Jean is a liar and beds a woman on false pretenses. And, Irène is a high priced call girl. Sounds like the ideal basis for a relationship, don't you think? And that is my problem with the film. While the actors were very good, I just couldn't get past the fact that they were very selfish and unlikable...especially Irène. As for Jean, he was just completely foolish and his indiscretions only get worse! Normally, you should like characters in a film...particularly a romantic comedy. But here they just seemed selfish and awful...and it ruined the experience for me.

We shouldn't enjoy Priceless as much as we do. A film which, on the surface, is frothy and colourful and quite perky; a film driven by a young woman who enjoys the company of older men because of their bank balance than any other quality. A frothy, sugary film set in a place where it's difficult to take anybody, or anything, particularly seriously; a holiday resort divided into two by those much old and rich ploughing on through their fatuous existences and those much younger and much poorer who loath the rich individuals it is whom they must serve in order to make a living. Pierre Salvadori's film does the job; it sets up, depicts and explores to an extent that is wholly satisfying. The film doesn't delve to the depths that it could have done; this is not a sex-laden, depraved and wholly ugly world being depicted here wherein we squeam at the mere presence of these people. Rather, the film is softer on its subjects: it humanises more-so demonises – it doesn't offer excuses or ways out for them, but it takes on an approach and sticks to its guns.The film is about lying; sloth and greed and yet it is the sort of film you can very quickly ease into once you've grasped the aesthetic and general tone of the animal. It's no masterpiece, but such is the effectiveness of most films coming out of France, it can mess about with this approach to this sort of subject matter, and still get away with it. We follow a young clerk at a hotel on the Côte d'Azur named Jean (Elmaleh), a man fulfilling the menial jobs at a luxurious establishment which plays host to France's richer personnel. When we first see him, he is a dogsbody out dog walking; a man struggling along, as those whom do not need to worry about such things, sit far away enough for the overall walk to be as arduous as it is and exist in their flawed and fatuous existence. During the walk, Jean will come to very briefly be near to a young woman named Irène (Tautou); her immediate presence propped up by a close up of a pair of expensive earrings sat perched in a shop window. They do not interact, but this will not be the first time Irène will be stood looming in the background ready to purchase something in the vicinity of our Jean.Jean plods along in life, serving the rich and empty; hobbling along in his job, suffering the wrath of his supervisor should he doze off during his night-shift in this, his bartender-come-security guard-come-anything else role. The Irène of earlier enters his life when the elderly man she's working on, in so much she grants him her time and love on account of being provided with anything and everything she desires, passes out on the night of his birthday through the over consumption of alcohol. Bored and frustrated, Irène spills out into the complex only to bump into Jean – someone who becomes smitten with her when they bond and sleep together. But he is, of course, merely a lowly clerk and she won't stand for anyone who doesn't have at least half the annual income that could supplement a night in one of these sorts of hotels.Disappearing in the morning, but reappearing a year later, she is still with her old boyfriend although but is on course to marry him. Jeans decides to act, and realises he must woo her away from this suitor: but how? She'll only go for very specific men who are endowed in the monetary department, and he only has so much cash. Coming to run out of money himself in trying to live this false existence, Jean must stoop to her level in playing pretty-younger-partner to a rich elderly woman just so that he may remain in her space.Cue a story depicted by Salvadori, which although we predict from a fairly early point, and of which is told to us through an often aggravating 'tourist board' aesthetic, is actually quite good. Ultimately, it is a film about Jean becoming enraptured in a lifestyle where previously he played the black sheep; likewise, Irène's gradual belief that those whom they initially dismissed are actually rather decent and have a heart where it matters is depicted coming up the other way. There is nothing glaringly terrible about Priceless; recall that it is a character study about two people blinded by relationships, or the potential for relationships, who end up looking foolish because of their actions above most things.

"Priceless" is the kind of screwball comedies that could have been made by Capra, Hawks of Wilder, with enough controversial material to be tailor-made for the 2000's audience. It's the story of a wacky romance, set in the Riviera, the richest and most luxurious destination in France and starting out of an unfortunate misunderstanding when a young gold-digger named Irène (Audrey Tautou) mistakes the hotel's bartender, the docile and good-natured Jean (Gad El Maleh) for a rich suitor.This is gold material for the comedy genre, and maybe the movie could have been much better if handled by a gutsier director, something in the same level of John Landis' "Trading Places". The beginning is almost a remake of the 'Sprinkler sprinkled' with a very efficient pay-off, one of the most hilarious moments of the film when Irene realizes she was mislead by her intuition. But thereafter, it's like the film never truly respects the potential carried by the story, by making a social commentary or at least elevating the comedic level, the result isn't insipid but not spicy either. And since this is obviously not the kind of romantic comedy to end in a bad note, it needed a more ambitious material to be a much more memorable film.But it could have been worse too, after a promising start; the movie takes an unexpected turn into what is probably one of the most upsetting displays of dependent relationship between a man and the woman he's in love in. The way Irene takes advantage from Jean's naivety reveals a very disturbing mean-spiritedness while his generosity and eagerness to buy whatever she wants till the last euro, are more pathetic than inspiring. At least the look and the body language of the two leads efficiently convey the contrast between their two personalities, she's mousy with treacherous black eyes and he's got a sort of Buster Keaton-like apathetic face with a blue suggesting the idea of a heart's purity, Gad and Audrey form a nice duo but this sequence is upsetting nonetheless. The gold-digger becomes a villainous pocket-emptier and if it's not for the miraculous encounter of Madeleine, a rich widow who accepts to 'take care of' Jean, he would have been put in jail, and Irene would have probably never heard of him. Their reconciliation is like their relationship, only made of pure circumstances.It's only at this moment that the film takes off for a more satisfying turn of events, when Jean makes his bones as a personal escort-boy and neighboring Irene who found a new prey in the same hotel, he starts knowing the ropes and the tricks about how getting more honey, how seducing by playing the mysterious guy with both close and distant eyes. Jean learns to play with his look, to have a more virile demeanor and exploits the blueness of his life, for more serious prospects. The mentor/disciple relationship with Irene will also affect her, as she will find more interest in this man, who's not rich by his own merit, but enough so she can let her heart fall in love for him. The movie interestingly leaves some ambiguity in Irene's true motivations. She's still ambitious, she's still a gold-digger, but she doesn't act like a true professional. Or maybe it's this very mistake of her that is supposed to redeem her character; maybe all she just needed was a turning point.The movie evolves on the surface without leaving much to embrace from this film, like inviting us to focus on the romance because it's the 'most interesting issue'. That's the problem with light-hearted comedies when they deal with some politically incorrect themes or whose content exceeds the limits of the genre. It would have been interesting to understand the behavior of these divorced and rich old men aware that their appeal relies on the content of their wallet more than anything, but still using this power to have good company. More interesting are these old widows who need younger men not only for sex (we never see Jean in bed with Madeleine) but like little toys that would drive some sort of maternal impulse, feeling alive by taking care of someone dear. I know this wasn't the point of the film but the directors acted as if we would only care about the two leads, while the film could have shined by exploiting the peripheral characters.I was not disappointed though, because that's the unfortunate reality with French comedies, and why a few of them find the right combination of humor and seriousness. "Priceless" was probably not meant to be serious, but it still dealt with some contemporary issues that highlighted some sad realities in today's societies. If one thing, the movie shows how things are easier for a girl if she's pretty, even without the brains or the intellectual background. There are two drivers in today's shallow world: sex and money; and women and men use the premise of one to have both, and this leads to a vicious circle that maintains the sensation of boring redundancy inhabiting this world. The romance between Jean and Irene is the getaway from this circle, but to make this getaway more uplifting, the movie lacked a cruder and deeper view on it.But overall, the result is quite satisfying and maybe the subject of gold-digging is such a taboo enough in France it needed a light-hearted treatment, with a positive message at the end. While "Trading Places" ended in a typical celebration of wealth, money and success, Jean Salvadori concludes by demonstrating that there are things in life, which are indeed "Priceless".

PRICELESS ( Hors de Prix) manages to puff along on its rather slim story line and keep the audience interested primarily due to the presence of Audrey Tautou. Though the script by Benoît Graffin and Pierre Salvador is loaded with good lines and despite the fact that director Pierre Salvadori manages to keep the appearance of the film full of glossy fun, the story thins after the first hour and pleads for some tighter editing. The location is the French Riviera and the action takes place in the elegant Biarritz Hotel where we discover Irène (Audrey Tautou) as a gold digger whose career focus is finding a man of wealth who can support her expensive tastes. Tautou has never looked more glamorous than she does here and we can understand why the sugar daddies of the world vie for her attention. While preparing for her birthday celebration, Irène takes too long dressing and her current paramour falls asleep. Not wanting to be alone on her special day she goes in all her resplendent glory to the hotel bar. There she meets Jean (Gad Elmaleh) who happens to be the bartender and hotel employee but who Irène mistakes for a man of wealth. Their mutual attraction, despite the mismatch of perceptions, results in a wild night of love - Jean being careful not to allow Irène to know of his true status as a poor worker. A year passes and the two meet again under similar circumstances and as the true identities are unveiled Irène teaches Jean how to be a gigolo, only to have the tables turn in a predictable way. This is a bit of French fluff and goes on far too long, but there is Tautou on the screen, beautiful and buoyant and irresistible - and that makes up for a lot. In French with English subtitles. Grady Harp