Amelie

Rating:
Summary: Sooo Cute!!
Review: I'm not much for sappy romance, but there is no sap here, just sweetness and humour! Audrey Tatou plays Amelie, the gamime doe-eyed waitress at a restaraunt in Monmarte, a part of Paris, France. She is very quiet and lonely, as she lives by herself. The charming young girl decides to help others out secretly with mischeif of course, all the while trying to tease her love interest. This movie has great visual effects, the cast is wonderful, and Tatou is amazing as the quirky Amelie. It is in French, but comes with subtitles. One of my personal favorite moies!!!

Rating:
Summary: The best!
Review: This is simply one of the most magical movies ever made. I'm lucky enough that we already have the DVD available here in Quebec and the extras are great. Do not miss this movie which will put a huge smile on your face!

Rating:
Summary: the Amelie effect will change your life
Review: In Europe, this flick inspired something called "the Amelie effect" --- after seeing this film, moviegoers started doing kind things in their daily lives. Amelie is a coffeehouse waitress in Paris who one day discovers a box of trinkets in her apartment left by a young boy over 40 years ago. She is determined to find the owner and return it to him anonymously. If he is happy to have it, she will spend the rest of her life making people happy.

To this end, she incorporates the help of a neighbor who is stricken with brittle bone disease and never leaves his house. He also advises her not to be so taken in by strangers that she ignores her own life --- the depression of her widowed father and her own lack of a significant other.

This subtitled movie is wonderfully filmed using animation and special effects to help carry the plot. There are many layers and subtexts in this film as different characters around Amelie are brought into focus. It is a romance, comedy and drama all at once! Audrey Tatou is a gifted newcomer -- I can't wait to see her in future films!

Rating:
Summary: Bloody Sleeves Required
Review: Though "Amelie" has great promise and filled many art house theaters with people, I found the movie to be a bit overrated. While it does inspire a sense of joy, the movie never completely connected with me. French screen ingenue Audrey Tautou was pleasant and the over-the-top visuals of acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet were inventive if not occasionally distracting. In its favour, one must admit that the movie succeeds at its seeming purpose: to capture the essence love. On the other hand , enjoying this film requires one to leave the brain at home and wear his or her heart on the sleeve.

For a pure sense of wonderment with a deeper sense of purpose, I suggest the superior "Time Bandits" by Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: What a fun film! From the moment it begins, "Amelie" bursts with joy and energy. It's a fable of sorts, a love letter to a Paris fondly dreamt of by many. It may not be the real world, but it is such a delightful fantasy that it doesn't matter how unbelievable some of it may be. "Amelie" is the rare romantic comedy that has both the romance and the comedy. It isn't very surprising that this has been a hit in France for a while now, and I have no doubt it will find the audience it needs in the States as well.

Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a naive girl working at the Two Windmills Cafe. When she was a child her mother and teacher was an innocent victim of a suicide gone awry. Amelie stayed with her father until she was old enough to leave and lead a life of her own. One day she finds a small box of treasures behind a tile in her wall, she decides to return it to her owner and become a natural do-gooder. Later on, she catches a man groping for lost photos under a photo booth (Nino Quincampoix, played by Mathieu Kassovitz), and it's love at first sight. She decides to go on a quest to find this man and help anyone she can along the way (including her father and co-workers).

I said before that this film was a love letter to Paris, it is also a love letter to Amelie herself. Jean-Pierre Jeunet (director and co-screenwriter) conjured the film like a dream, as if Amelie is his dream girl and he is trying to save her and bring her to a happy ending. It's not hard to want everything to work out for her and her friends. Amelie Poulain is the kind of person who you wish was your best friend, your neighbor or your sister. She bounces along with good grace and whimsy living life to its fullest, yet keeping a mischievous grin. She has her own idea of justice that isn't very disagreeable. The tormentors must in turn be tormented; the lifeless must be brought to life. The film is like a non-musical "Bells Are Ringing", with our heroine bringing so much life to those around her but neglecting her wants and needs.

After seeing Audrey Tautou as Amelie, I can't possibly imagine anyone else in that role. She embodies Amelie like no one else could, she is a rare find that pulls off the job of breathing life into Amelie in spades. Wait, I take that back. She does not just breathe life into Amelie, Tautou makes her jump off the screen and pull the audience into the story. It would be a crime for her not to get a Best Actress nomination for her role.

Magical is the world that Amelie lives in, where photos and lamps come alive to aid her quest, where TV shows are showing nothing but her story. The story this setting surrounds is pretty standard, and presented plainly could have just been another machine-processed romantic comedy. Is it too sappy? No. On the contrary, the film takes quite a few steps to make sure it doesn't become tacky or conventional. The rich, storybook setting and a witty screenplay (asides are taken to deepen our connection each character, little things that each likes and dislikes) make the film all the more a delight to watch. The cinematography, crafted by Bruno Delbonnel, does wonders for "Amelie". The camera captures the action with an eye of a child in a candy store, beautifully bringing about each shot as a new discovery.

With films like "The Widow of Saint-Pierre", "With a Friend Like Harry" and box-office hit "Brotherhood of the Wolf", French cinema has had quite a year. It's a delight that we round off the year with "Amelie", a fresh, funny journey that could have easily just been more Meg Ryan-esque romantic comedy fodder. If not for anything else, see it for Tautou's performance, but prepare to be smothered in a dream world.

Rating:
Summary: witty, romantic, original and beautiful...
Review: There are more original ideas in the opening five minutes of this movie than the entire output of Hollywood during the whole of last year.

Clearly influenced by his own early short movie Things I Hate/Things I Like and also by the complex structures of the books of Georges Perec, Jeunet has shrugged off the relative failure of Alien Resurrection to return to what he does best - visually stunning, slightly mad stories injected with romance and fantasy.

Wonderful performances throughout from an array of character actors, an engaging central performance and beautiful sets. A weird and wonderful storyline with subtle twists and odd turns.

Anyone who delights in the cinema with love this movie.

Rating:
Summary: It made me forgive the French!
Review: This is the best film I have ever seen. I cannot say enough about how wonderful this film is, but I will try. Audrey Tautou is the most beautiful, magnetic, spellbounding, and (insert any other positive superlative adjectives here) actress since Audrey Hepburn. My only hope is that Hollywood never gets its filthy hands on her. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's style sucks you in completely. The supporting cast also give excellent performances. I was worried that I would not get the French sense of humor going into this movie, but I quickly found out that would not be the case. If you watch this movie you will not quit smiling for days, I kid you not. Watch Amelie with someone you love.

Rating:
Summary: why i loved "amelie" in 1000 words or less
Review: yet another fabulously artistic film by jean-pierre jeaunet, "amelie" reached a part of my soul. i must admit i'm a little obsessive compulsive when it comes to seeing it - especially at the ticket price we have to pay in nyc, BUT, it's so well worth the zillion dollars i've spent on multiple viewings. if i could personally take everyone to the theater to see it, trust me, i would. it just felt so alive as a film. i'm an artist and when i left the theater, i felt this rejuvenated passion in my life. maybe that's why i like seeing it so much. i could also identify with amelie's quirks and intricacies. she was just an intriguing character to me, and the story is divine. GO SEE IT!! here, i'll add some more stars, so you'll be sure to go ************ okay, there. now you have no excuse. it's simply brilliant - enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A romantic comedy in the purest form
Review: Amelie beautifully depicts what has been missing from American cinema - a romantic comedy in its purest form. A magical, realistic love story that doesn't resort to absurdity, say like Kate & Leopold. Audrey Tautou delivers a luminous performance as the title character. Her performance immediately draws the viewer in. She is supported by a wonderful supporting cast of characters, especially in my mind Lucien the assistant grocer and the younger Amelie. Also keep an eye out for the gnome.

This is truly an inspired movie that captures the magic of romantic comedies without force feeding the viewer romance and comedy (think Serendipity). Both the romance and comedy is subtle and wonderfully portrayed. If you've been searching for a well-done romantic comedy, this is it. Though the subtitles may be off-putting to some viewers, this is not a difficult movie to follow. Give it a chance - you will truly be glad you did.

A brilliantly acted, well told story that will leave the viewer with a smile on his/her face - Amelie deserves the highest mark. 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Simply Amazing
Review: This is without a doubt the reason cinema was created. Let it be said that this movie could hold up the history of cinema by itself. A charming masterpiece about true passion for live and living.