La clienta

Pas mal, but so what? There seem to be a novel French cultural obsession with male love for hire. Last year gave us the total fluff of "Hors de Prix," but at least that had Gad Elameh, Audrey Tatou, Nice and Biarritz as a stunning backdrop. Cliente does a little better on the fluff side, with director (and excellent support actress) Josiane Balasko injecting some social concern in an otherwise lightweight comedy. Viewers are however left wondering if the setup was really necessary.

The story revolves around Marco, aka Patrick, escort for hire for older rich ladies in search of lunchtime company in Paris. Marco is pushed to the oldest profession by the need to support his wife's budding business, and therefore escape from a difficult cohabitation. When the wife Fanny finds out about the moonlighting, like the say, things will never be the same.

In any case Cliente delivers good fun, almost never misses a beat and has a couple of truly hilarious moments.