You won't be disappointed!

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A marriage on the rocks, where both sides look for something on the side. The only sparkle comes in the form of the Mrs asking her husband for assistance with an acquaintance's immigration issues. In theory it should have been easy; his father is a high ranking civil servant. Given however the dysfunctional relationship between father and son, it makes it a rather mammoth task and it gets more interesting when the son falls for the émigré and thus intensifies the efforts.In a typically French fashion, this comedy score high and wit and sophistication with a generous dose of satire towards modern life and interpersonal relationships.

Whoever classified this movie as a 'comedy' must have a strange sense of humour. Mildly amusing in parts, it is hardly full of laughs. Indeed it seems a rather sad story - ageing French professor Hauer is asked by his partner, Iva, to use his high-level contacts in the judiciary to secure the future of an illegal immigrant, Aurore. He visits his father, a judge, hoping to get access to the man at the top, Hortense. However, his father has little time for him (figuratively and literally) and Hortense has even less. Hauer discovers his partner is having an affair with a younger man and tells her to leave their apartment and their young, brattish son. He encounters a student who turns out to be the illegal immigrant, Aurore. A relationship develops . . . A gun, gay oriental youth,Japanese cuisine and a visual reference to cherry blossom are added to the mix. It's all quite fragmented and puzzling and very French/Parisian - but also sufficiently intriguing to keep you watching (or rather me; my wife fell asleep!). I'm not sure why, but I did enjoy it. (Viewed at Screen 3, The Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK 31 August 2013).

This film is about a man in an unhappy marriage, who agrees to help his brother in law's friend. The help turns his life in unexpected directions."Cherchez Hortense" depicts an unhappy family convincingly. The lack of communication between the couple and the tension between the mother and the son is displayed in a way that is not over the top. The husband's chance encounter with Aurore flows naturally, and the progression of their friendship is a pleasure to watch. The Judge acts appears pleasant on the surface but he is doing everything he could to be difficult towards others. The plethora of human interaction portrayed in this film is like a miniature world of everyday life. Life can be bitter for some, sweet for others. "Cherchez Hortense" is a sweet romantic comedy.

You've got the typical subsidised French movie: the writer-director-author puts in some nice bits about his characters and he is pretty content with his flimsy story. Looks like low production specs with a Parisian artsy bourgeois coating. Mid-life crisis & intellectual couple trouble - check. Political/social issue - check. Father-son relationship - check. Male friendship, mmmm.... not so sure. Heterosexual unease in a gay context - check. Hypocrisy and shallowness of the powerful - check.Quite frankly it is boring to think so many movies are made in France about Parisian intellectuals who have little problems in their lives but who really suffer because they're aware of all the misery outside. The title says it all, and we can guess Pascal Bonitzer was not sidelined when a release titled had to be decided upon. The title means nothing, it doesn't stay, it is most probably a pretentious intellectual guess game.All in all it is somewhat distressing to see such movies that go nowhere and are plenty happy with it. Cherchez Hortense doesn't go as far as being pretentious author stuff, he never wants to assert a message, that's what makes it nice and very forgettable. And with such a poor title it is a movie that can be forgotten even before you seriously think of seeing it.