Writer / Director Cédric Klapisch has assembled a great ensemble cast including Audrey Tautou, Kelly Reilly and Romain Duris in his third collaboration with the filmmaker ( the first two parts of this trilogy: ‘L’Auberge Espagnole’ and ‘Russian Dolls’). The story about a novelist Xavier Rosseau whose life is turned upside down – he is a father of two travelling to New York to be near to his children has a lovely lightness of touch and warm romantic overtone always ensures the pieces of the puzzle eventually fit together very nicely. In this the final chapter in his 'Spanish Apartment Trilogy’, which began with the titular The Spanish Apartment (2002) the main theme, is the characters' different response to aging and parenting as they approach forty. | The four main characters also have a shared history, having first met as students in ‘The Spanish Apartment’ and then reconnected in ‘Russian Dolls’ (2005) and there's a wonderful honesty about their interactions with each other. Duris is such a charismatic and compassionate actor – here he is a likeable yet flustered and charming lead. He is funny, a good father, respectful of women and good looking into the bargain…this is the French characters living the American dream, which could be too saccharine but for Klapisch, who makes these complicated people’s colourful lives seamlessly weave into an intelligent comedic drama. |