One of the things I really liked about this quirky Gallic
love story was that it was not about a flawlessly perfect beautiful young
couple but rather about a painfully shy somewhat ordinary pair in their early/mid
forties. It's the sweet (literally) tale
of Angelique a talented chocolatier who is so introvert that any small
compliment makes her faint, and when she turns up at the near bankrupt Chocolate Factory
owned by Jean-Rene, who breaks out into a sweat just being close to any woman,
she doesn't have the nerve to tell him that she doesn’t want the job of Sales
Rep he mistakenly offers here, but she actually wants to be its chocolate
maker.
She accepts the job however after he somehow
surprisingly finds the confidence to ask her out to dinner on a date, but as
neither of them yet recognize that they are both as anxiety ridden as each
other, it's a disaster. Jean-Rene keeps
having to sneak off to the bathroom when he has stashed away an attaché case
stuffed full of clean shirts, and when he has sweated his away through them
all, he runs off into the night abandoning her.
Luckily for Jean-Rene, Angelique is not easily put off and
still turns up for work although only to find that no-one wants to buy the
Company’s chocolate anymore as it is considered too old-fashioned. What all the Confectioners crave for is Mercier Chocolates but M. Mercier has died and he took the identity of
his secret Chocolatier to his grave. It’s
actually Angelique but her pathological shyness makes it impossible for her to admit to this so she concocts a scheme
where she helps the Factory re-create the Mercier ones allegedly following the instruction
of the mystery maker via a web cam.
The chocolates get made and win an Award and lots of Orders
and the Factory is saved. Jean-Rene and Angelique
even get to make out but as much as they like it, it also panics them even more
than usual and sends them scampering away separately for support. In her case it's the 12-Step Romantics Group
that she attends every week, and in his case, it’s his small loyal band of workers
who appreciate that their future and their haphazard boss’s lie in the same
place.
On the eve of my new citizenship it may sound a tad
disloyal to say it, but unlike the Americans, the French are truly masters of
gentle romantic comedies made by adults and for adults. This wee fairy tale may be accused of being a
tad like the chocolate they had been making, but I found it a wonderfully uplifting
feel-good story of how tough it can be for all people who are chronically shy
to make their romance work. People like
me that is.
P.S. The only reason I have not rated higher is that is has two musical numbers which are wincingly embarrassment : one is of Angeligue singing 'I Have Confidence' from The Sound of Music and swinging her case like Julie Andrews did. Why oh why do the French ALWAYS do this?
★★★★★★★★
P.S. The only reason I have not rated higher is that is has two musical numbers which are wincingly embarrassment : one is of Angeligue singing 'I Have Confidence' from The Sound of Music and swinging her case like Julie Andrews did. Why oh why do the French ALWAYS do this?
★★★★★★★★
