YOU CHOOSE / L’Embarras du choix

 

North American Premiere • Romantic Comedy • France, 2017

DCP • 2.35 • Dolby 5.1 • Color • 97 min

Directed by: Eric Lavaine

Written by: Laure Hennequart, Laurent Turner, Eric Lavaine 

Cinematography: François Hernandez

Film Editing: Vincent Zuffranieri

Original Score: Fabien Cahen

Produced by: Alain Benguigui (Sombrero Films), Thomas Verhaeghe (Atelier de Production), Pathé Production, TF1 Films Production.

Cast: Alexandra Lamy (Juliette), Arnaud Ducret (Étienne), Jamie Bamber (Paul), Anne Marivin (Joelle), Sabrina Ouazani (Sonia), Jérôme Commandeur (Philippe)

International Sales: Pathé Distribution

 

This breezy confection is the ideal vehicle for actor Alexandra Lamy’s comic madness. Juliette has perfected the art of indecision. At the age of 40, she defers to her father, or her two besties, Joëlle and Sonia, for all of life’s questions, from what to eat for lunch to what to do for a living. When her exasperated fiancé dumps her, Joëlle and Sonia decide that the best thing for her to do is find a new beau immediately. Juliette leans into the task at hand, and is soon rewarded with Etienne, a charming foodie with a well-equipped kitchen. Then disaster strikes, in the form of a Scotsman named Paul. With his lean profile and fat wallet, Paul is every woman’s idea of a catch. To make matters worse, both men make proposals of marriage. When her usual advisors refuse to make the choice for her, Juliette has only one choice left: stall, stall, stall.

 

A comedy specialist, writer/director Eric Lavaine has been making steady inroads into the mainstream with each successive picture. He first stamped his name on the map in 2006 with Poltergay, his irreverent parody of Poltergeist, starring Clovis Cornillac. Lavaine followed up with two successes; Bienvenue à bord (2011), and Barbecue (2014) starring Lambert Wilson. Then he struck a rich vein of comedy gold in 2016 with Back To Mom’s, which featured Josiane Balasko and Alexandra Lamy as a mother and her 40-year-old daughter who have to learn to get along when they are forced to live together once again. Lavaine, who began his career writing sketches for Les guignols de l'info, has scripted most of his films with writing partner Héctor Cabello Reyes, but for this outing he worked with Laurent Turner (known for 9 Months Stretch and Radin.