Mama, There's a Man in Your Bed

Romuald et Juliette is one of those French romantic comedies where they seem to break all the rules, rather like Trop Belle Pour Toi. The gorgeous Daniel Auteuil learns about true loyalty and love when his life threatens to crash around his ears. The film isn't a preachy morality tale, but a wonderful story that will keep you hooked until the last. Firmine Richard (as Juliette) is a heroine that women will cheer - her laughter is my abiding memory of this warm and witty film. The down-to-earth way she has of including all her children by their different fathers - particularly the birthdays - gives the film an edge that lifts it above your average romantic comedy. But its always the French that seem to show us how effortless this all is!

Daniel Auteuil is sad and silly, sweet and take charge as Romuald the hapless yogurt company CEO who loses his comfortable existence, but finds true love and wisdom. The soundtrack includes a terrific instrumental by Stevie Ray Vaughn--this film gives one hope that we may all find that "someone special" and have the perfect theme to accompany that romance. The perfect film for one who enjoys a good love story as well as a comedy of errors.

A more or less typical form of numbskull Hollywood osmosis was responsible for the change of title for this charming French interracial romance when it crossed the Atlantic, from the perfectly adequate 'Romuald and Juliette' (shades of Shakespeare), which at least identifies the two unlikely lovers. Romuald is an aggressive yogurt tycoon who works in the executive suite of a Paris skyscraper; Juliette is the black cleaning woman who empties his garbage overnight, and when she learns of an insider trading and sabotage scheme the two become allies and (inevitably) lovers. There's nothing deep or significant here, but the script is both sensitive and, at times, even clever, and (surprisingly) never loses sight of the obvious social/racial/economic gaps dividing its two protagonists. But to say it ends happily-ever-after is an understatement: the resolution is too incredibly upbeat. And does it seem odd that a French film should have to justify their affair by showing Romuald's wife also fooling around?

There's nothing wrong with a movie that doesn't attempt to be deep and meaningful. Sometimes, you just want a nice "pick-me-up" to brighten your day. This movie doesn't exactly bring rainbows to your life, but it's not a waste of time either. I don't see the point in trying to bring up a deep-rooted psychological undertone when in fact, the movie is less racist for it's frank and casual attitude about the subject as pertains to the two characters. When He says "why?" to Her, She replies "because you're white, you're selfish, you're ..." and goes on to list a host of personal traits that the man definitely carries. Being White is one of his problems but her characterization of him BEYOND that one fact illuminates her view that his race is only a problem because he embodies all the negative aspects of that. Yes, she's a "lowly" but the fact is that that's reality - many minorities are stuck in low-end jobs living on the "lesser" end of life. The unfairness of this situation is mildly underscored in this movie - she is obviously intelligent, wise and kind. Because she is black, this somehow means that the idea of her entanglement with him is racist? I enjoyed the fact that this movie added race (or allowed to, perhaps the original script didn't include that aspect) to the mix to further dichotomize their differences. The point is that their differences aren't as wide as it seems; she extols his flaws and makes a conscious decision to change those flaws. What could be sweeter than watching a man make himself over for the love of a good woman?

I say anyone who thinks this story has racist elements either missed the point of the movie or they think minorities should never be portrayed as they are globally: trapped in low-end jobs, struggling to live decently and often clashing with the well-to-do who understand nothing of what it's like to live so "miserably". If you think adding a dash of reality in a movie is racist, then you're living in a dream world. I found this movie to be entirely believable mostly because IF such a thing were going to happen in real life, THIS is how it would most likely go down: subtly, spasticly, awkwardly and romantically.

There's nothing wrong with a nice romance movie now and then. All movies don't have to change your life.

This is a very sweet film. While it has its humorous moments, I wouldn't really bill it as a comedy, but perhaps it's funnier if you're French. But I really loved the characters and the story. Firmine Richard is a real beauty (I'm going to look up more of her films), and I too fell in love with Juliette. I saw "Le Placard" last week, which was my first exposure to Daniel Auteuil; I didn't know he was in this film until I started watching it. There are a lot of great French actors that Americans are too unaware of. Expand your horizons folks -- watch foreign films. There are some real gems out there. Go to your library and check out a few.

Now, this 10-line-minimum rule is really starting to get annoying. I think my comment above is quite adequate, but the system still won't allow me to submit it. You folks really need to change that.