By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Danièle Thompson
Starring: Albert Dupontel | Cécile de France | Valérie Lemercier
Original language title: Fauteuils d'orchestre
Country: france
Year: 2007
Running time: 106
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444112/
Bruce says: “The Hôtel Plaza Athénée , the Théâtre des Champs Élysées next door and a small bistro en face named Café aux Théâtres are all nestled together on the Avenue Montaigne. Three main stories involving upheaval in the arts unravel simultaneously with two stories involving changes of a personal nature. Jessica (Cécile de France) a young girl from the country comes to Paris to escape her past; Claudie, the concierge (Dani) at the theatre, contemplates her imminent retirement. A widower, Jacques Grumberg (Claude Brasseur), who collected a vast modern art collection with his late wife has decided to auction off everything; a world famous pianist, Jean-François Lefort (Albert Dupontel), is unraveling as he finds himself imprisoned by the demands of fame and fortune; an idolized TV sitcom actress, Catherine Versen (Valérie Lemercier), is attempting to branch out into a more serious career by appearing on stage in a Feydeau farce.
“Jessica was raised by her grandmother, Madame Roux (Suzanne Flon), who is now aging and in poor health. Encouraged by Madame Roux to make a new start by going to Paris, Jessica sweet-talks her way into becoming a waitress at the exclusively male-staffed Café aux Théâtres where all the other characters in the film end up at one time or another. Sydney Pollack (playing himself) arrives in town and meets with Catherine to discuss her playing Simone de Beauvoir in his upcoming film. Frédéric
Grumberg (Christopher Thompson) arrives to take a last look at the art collection his parents had assembled and to have a few word with his estranged father who now lives with Frédéric’s ex-girlfriend. Jean-François Lefort is guilt-ridden over his desire to abandon his concert tour because his wife (Laura Morante) gave up a career of her own to manage his.
“Paris vascillates, showing us her glamour and her simpler, more intimate side as well. Both are very seductive. The ensemble acting is as good as it gets; the casting director deserves a special award for getting each character exactly right. The complicated plot is handled deftly by director Danièle Thompson primarily due to the tight script which she penned with her son Christopher. How all the characters interact with one another in such a short time span is nothing short of miraculous. The Thompsons are no strangers to the comedy of manners domain. They also wrote the delightful (but decidedly less successful) films LA BÛCHE and JET LAG. Here they have created many interlocking dramas that are extraordinarily engaging. AVENUE MONTAIGNE is a perfection of the genre. 5 cats”