I’ve been a sucker for french comedies for a while now; perhaps it’s because I haven’t practiced my french in a long time, or maybe it’s because they make so many good movies. Either way, I enjoyed Cedric Klapisch’s (“L’auberge Espagnole”) new movie a lot. It’s a commercial, crowd-pleasing piece of work with engaging performances by Romain Duris (so good in “Heartbreaker”)- as a divorced dad who moves to New York so he could be with his children- Audrey Tautou, Kelly Reilly and Cecile de France. The screenplay was written by Klapisch himself and represents a seamless merging of French and American cultures. Here’s a filmmaker who has enjoyed a successful career making hit movies, but who hasn’t lost his touch. There is a feeling of confidence about his new film, from its assured visual presentation to the appealing star performances. Everyone seems to be having a great time, and ultimately, so do we. But because it’s a french film, I suspect most people won’t go to see “Casse-tête chinois” and that’s a shame. It puts most of Hollywood recent comedies to shame and proves that there’s still vibrant life in the genre, at least in France.

Rating: 3/4