Mon ange

Serge Frydman, the sole credited writer for _Girl on the Bridge_ directed by Patrice Leconte, tries to replicate that fragile magic. Once again the incandescent Vanessa Paradis is the centerpiece. The dialogue is just as florid and poetic (or tries to be), and the cinematography and framing are excellent. But _My Angel_ is a struggle to sit through. Paradis's foil Vincent Rottiers (who is decent in _Renoir_) just doesn't have the world weariness of Daniel Auteuil to pull off the morose tone that comes with his role. He is mostly an annoying kid. Instead of the constant danger of being hit by flying knives, we have generic mobster villain here, and Paradis's ticking biological clock. The whimsy, heightened sense of adventure, the life-and-death urgency of _Girl on the Bridge_ just aren't there. That film is a once-in-a-lifetime, lightning-in-a-bottle achievement; writer-director Frydman should have known better than to try to repeat it.