Fridae

It used to be that the anonymous love letter was the stock in trade for romantic comedies. There’s nothing like old school romance, playful flirtation, and intellectual seduction – which is why Han Yew Kwang can rework Cosi fan tutte as 18 Grams of Love, and Pierre Salvadori can do the same for Cyrano de Bergerac with Beautiful Lies.

In this Audrey Tatou (Amelie) vehicle, the shy letter writer is over-educated, underemployed, and overworked Jean (Sami Bouajila), whose anonymous missive to his hairdresser boss Emilie (Tatou) fall flat. Worse, the clueless Emilie decides that the outmoded and hifalutin verses might just be what her morose divorced mom Maddy (Nathalie Baye) needs. Even worse, she browbeats Jean to write more anonymous letters to her mum without knowing he was the original writer...

Nothing spells “hilarity ensues” than a daisy chain of romantic misunderstandings, multiple impersonations, and thwarted love, really. To spice up the romantic comedy, the script by Salvadori and Graffin also delivers a critique of the class divide by fomenting quite credibly a class war between an insecure petit bourgeoisie Emile and Harvard-educated patrician Jean.

Whether you are watching this as a charming new take on old school comedy or as a dark social satire on class and alienation, the script and the performance by the cast is delightful, sufficiently frothy, and never boring. Kudos go to Audrey Tatou for portraying a nasty character (quite similar to her role in Hors de prix, incidentally) who still manages to win your sympathy at the end.