“Charm beats looks,” she says. “You can resist looks, not
charm.”
And though it certainly helps that she’s devastatingly gorgeous,
Irène (the intoxicating, magical, and waif-y Audrey Tautou) is
right. But rather than using her seductive tricks to procure love,
Irène lusts only for decadence—and unless you inhabit the
sparkling world of caviar, couture, and getting drunk in the daytime,
you’re not getting a piece.
In five-star hotels of the French Riviera that she floats through
with graying captains of industry, Irène is every busboy’s
dream. Until one of those busboys, Jean (the likeable everyman Gad
Elmaleh), bumblingly fools Irène into thinking he’s a
guest. Jean, for good reason, becomes completely
infatuated—chasing Irène through a world he has no
business in aside from carrying the bags and mixing the drinks. We join
him happily, as if the excursion into the exclusive boutiques and
thousand-dollar dinners is our own.
What follows is a soft, jovial, and modern take on love and sex, and
how the two can indeed be separate. Priceless is funny and cute
(we’ll resist calling it a “romantic comedy,” because the film’s a
little to smart and engaging to be lumped in with usual romcom fare),
and there’s a glimpse of Tautou’s boobs, which ought to be worth the
price of admission alone.