Amelie

Rating:
Summary: A quirky comedy that you'll love
Review: "Amelie" is a harmless screwball comedy from France. It stars the absolutly adorable Audry Tautou as Amelie, a young lady living in Paris. One day she decides she will spread love and happiness. So she begins setting up her friends, playing little jokes on her neighbors, helping people get over various fears, ect. But she is struck dumb when she finds her self in love with Nino, a young man who is obsessed with taping torn photos back together. It is a nice change of pace from my usual gloom and doom movies, but a welcome one. I liked that some of the stuff that happened only happened in her imagination (think the French equivalent of "Ally McBeal"). The only thing I thought was off about this movie (even by it's standards) was the relationship of Amelie and Nino. If I tries some of the stuff she did to him, I would be arrested for stalking! But all in all it is a pretty funny movie, with only a few quick sex scenes to really object too, and that is streaching it. I really think PG-13 would have been correct instead of R. But, what can we do.

Rating:
Summary: That Top Lip
Review: I had heard alot about this movie from all the chatter just buzzing around, not to mention the really high ratings it recieved on imdb and ymdb.com. The subtitles are really nothing bad, and you get use to them in a minute. But About the movie, The movie tells the story of Amelie a girl working in a coffee shop in France. Now the depection of France is nothing like real day France, but the fictional aura of it and how beautiful everything looks is really breathtaking. Jean-Pierre Jeunet creates a fabulous display of colors mixing with that slight french carnival music playing at the appropriate times. Audrey Tautou (and her amazingly cute self) couldn't have been a better suite for the title role. Her display of facial expressions and cute top lip make this movie. As the story progresses Amelie finds a box containing memory's of a man's child hood. And she secretly returns it to him, enlightening his life. Here, she devote herself to helping people. Through her adventure we meet Ramond DuFayel her painter friend who asks her about her life through his painting of a crowd, her being the faceless girl. Lucien, the slightly slow fruit salesmen who wants to be an artist and is harassed by his boss about it. And Amelie's father Raphael who she is trying to convince to get out and travel but he would rather stay home with his garden gnome. But in reality Amelie gets so caught up in helping others, that she forgets to help herself. That might sound kinda heavy hearted, but this story of adventure, "stratagems" and love couldn't be any more lighthearted. And in the end it just left me with a big smile, making me feel better than ever and brightening the day. The DVD is two disc's and loaded with extra's but I was to engulfed in the movie to even worry about them. Maybe not the greatest movie ever made, but proabably the most fun and most entertaining movie I've ever watched.

Rating:
Summary: Oh what wonder
Review: Amelie as the name suggests is about a girl, named Amelie, big surprise there, eh? The story follows Amelie from conception to her twenty something's, filled with wild quirks and flashy fixating visuals that fix you to your seat, so much so that a passer by might think you a comatose patient, with drool and all. The drool appears as a result of the childish, lively presence of its main attraction Audrey Tautuo, who fills the main role with such charm and playfulness that it could only be described as astounding. The world this movie brings you to might not be the most realistic you've seen of this kind but it is definitely a wacky adventure of all the little things that are generally only lightly touched upon in a movie but never made it's main clause. If you're the type of person that would growl at movie's that make you go "aaah" then this movie is not for you, if you are not, then this is a movie that will delight you from start to finish. Amelie is one of those experiences that can only be experienced once, so watch it while you can.

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: The visuals and music in AMELIE is amazing! Also, the starring actress if pretty easy on the eyes.

The DP on this film has an encredible eye for composition, balance, and color. It's obvious they did tons of color correction and filtering, but it augments the movie rather than detracting from it or distracting the viewer.

The soundtrack is incredible and it sits in my CD-magazine in my car.

Rating:
Summary: Favorite Movie Ever?
Review: Amelie is not only an imaginative and artistically directed story, but humorous and uplifting in its presentation. For this reason alone, the movie is unique. Too many Sundance films focus on the negative underbelly of life, but Amelie is refreshing, well-acted and brilliantly directed and filmed. It combines the positivity and sweetness of Life is Beautiful (another favorite) with the vision and style of Moulin Rouge.

This is one of the only movies that my parents and siblings (age 25-65) all enjoy. It's quirky and creative, but still accessible for anyone, even those who aren't big fans of foreign films. Take the 2 hours, tough out having to "read" a movie, and you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Get Ready to Fall in Love...With Amelie
Review: I think the first thing people notice about AMELIE is Audrey Tautou's striking resemblance to the late Audrey Hepburn. Both are beautiful in an impish, charming sort of way, with huge eyes and sly smiles. Tautou, however, is more quirky and less elegant than was Hepburn.

Amelie is an offbeat, lonely, young waitress who works at a Parisian cafe. Amelie grew up in a rather solitary environment and she's aware that her adult life contains quite an emotional void. Unable to correct what's wrong in her own life, Amelie sets about correcting what's wrong in the lives of others...with all the best intentions, of course, for Amelie is nothing if not kind. And, Amelie does bring about changes in the lives of others...changes that are all for the good, but as she helps others, Amelie becomes more and more aware that her own life is in dire need of repair. Of course, AMELIE is a French film so there is only one thing that will make her life happy and complete...love.

Just as Amelie is a quirky and offbeat girl, AMELIE is a quirky and offbeat romantic comedy...and it is a romantic comedy, even if of the French variety. Most of the supporting cast of AMELIE is composed of quirky, offbeat characters (all good people, of course) and all of them do a wonderful job supporting Tautou who does a wonderful job holding the entire film together. AMELIE is a character study as well as a romantic comedy, but it's definitely not an complex one, thanks to its imaginative director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

I've read and heard criticism of AMELIE for presenting a very romanticized view of Paris and Parisians. Who cares? This movie is meant to make us feel better about ourselves, and it does. It's meant to make us fall in love with Tautou, and it does. It's meant to make us love life just a little more and have a little more trust and confidence in humanity and it certainly does do that. AMELIE is a romantic comedy, there's no doubt about that, but it's also a poetic film that let's us forget about the dreary cares of everyday life and focus on some of life's magic instead.

AMELIE, both the movie and the character, are a joy. Don't pick. Just watch and fall in love.

Rating:
Summary: Astonishing
Review: I would not give just any film 5 stars but if I could I'd give this film 6. I went into seeing this movie thinking it would be another style over substance foreign bore, but I was very happy at the end. This story was so sweet and charming, I don't remember any other film making me feel as good as this one did. It's hard to describe what was so good about it but I'll try. The story was enchanting, Audrey Tatou's portrayal of the shy Amelie was outstanding (by the end of the picture I was in love with her), and the film was visually impressing as well. This film might not be for everyone, but if you are the kind of person who likes interesting totally believable characters (or someone who pays attention to things like character development) and you have a heart this movie is sure to touch you. Reading this review I may sound like a sap but that is because you don't know me. I guarantee anyone who knows me that read this review would be suprised at me saying things like this but it's the truth. Do yourself a favor and buy this film, it's wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: Funny, heart-warming and strikingly original
Review: This is a delightful romantic fantasy of love and comedy, of vivid color and some preposterous antics of love and friendship that will send mawkish tears down your cheeks while making you laugh out loud. If not, turn in your headset for a heart.

Audrey Tautou is Amelie, a fashion-sharp Parisian waitress with an impish heart of gold and an shyness born of a bizarrely restricted childhood. She is cute and innocent, but not too innocent.

Her father, who was a physician, thought she had a defective heart because every time he put the stethoscope to her little chest it was beating wildly. A voice-over explains that this was caused by the excitement that Amelie felt because her frigid father, whom she wanted so much to hold her, although he never did, was actually touching her. Because of an imagined heart condition she is kept out of school and tutored at home.

After her mother dies from being hit by a falling body (an actual human body on its way to the pavement from a tall building) we are flash-forwarded to the present where we find little Amelie all grown up. She still has no love in her life. But one day while listening to a news report of the death of Princess Di she drops something on the floor of her apartment. It rolls against a tile in the bathroom, dislodging the tile. Amelie pulls down the tile and finds in a hole in the wall a little tin box full of a boy's childhood mementoes from many years ago. In a characteristic bit of inspiration she decides to find that little boy, now grown into middle age, and give him the box. But she is shy and so must invent a stratagem. She arranges to call him when he is near a public phone booth in which she has placed the box. So delighted with the joy she has given him, Amelie sets off on a series of inventive and pixie-like intrusions into the lives of others in order to bring them happiness and even love.

While this R-rated fantasy would delight children there is too much actual sex in it for most American moms to tolerate for their little ones. In fact in the French style sex is made innocent, and of course that will not set well with those of a prudish nature.

Favorite corny pun: "Even artichokes have hearts." Favorite elaborate joke: sending her father's garden gnome on the world tour that he won't take himself, and having the gnome photographed at tourist sites and the photos sent airmail to a very perplexed dad. Favorite joke: the beggar refusing a handout saying he takes Sundays off. Favorite scheme: reconstructing through cut and paste and photocopy the words of the landlady's beloved, and then fashioning a last love letter to her from him that was lost in the mail for forty years.

The two disc set includes a wealth of information to delight afficionados. There's an interview with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, some footage on how Amelie was made, filmographies of cast and crew, audition footage, etc., etc.

Bottom line: very funny, heart-warming and strikingly original.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece of recent French cinema
Review: I delight in films about vulnerable people finding redemption, and this is one such film. Amelie is a fragile creature, a young woman afraid of the world, too wounded by life to love and be loved, who one day serendipitously stumbles upon a child's box of toys and trinkets that will set in motion the events that promise her salvation. She begins finding ways to help people, but only ever from a distance. When she is granted the opportunity to open herself to life and love, however, will she run away, or will she take the plunge?

Here we have a fascinating tale that celebrates the giftedness, uniqueness and specialness of every person and every moment. In an extraordinarily magical way, director Jeunet causes us to weep and laugh at the ironies of life and the blessedness of truly living it. Cinematically, this is inventive and visually entrancing. Audrey Tatou is charming as the character at the centre of Jeunet's surreal yet totally believable world.

Rating:
Summary: Foreign Movie Haters, Take Note!
Review: If your girlfriend picks out one of those dreadful foreign films that feels more like a reading assignment than a pleasure cruise, take note of Amelie! This movie is in another language, but I promise you that after a few minutes, you will be so involved in the story, you will forget that you are reading while you're watching.

My favorite thing about Amelie (and there are so many things; see 750+ reviews!) is how each character is introduced with something they like and something they don't. How true this is, that it is the little things that make up a person.

This movie is easily one of the best movies I have ever seen! - says a person who likes to see her own handwriting photocopied and does not like wide open eyeballs.