Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I am a big big fan of "Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain". In fact, it's one of my favorite movies of all time. A friend told me about Odette Toulemonde and since she loves Amélie too, I got the DVD and just watched it.And I am feeling very sorry and most of all disappointed now. While the movie was clearly inspired by Amélie (to say the VERY least!), it never ever gets there. Not even close.The story is totally made up nonsense. It's actually SO made up, the characters are SO two-dimensional and uninteresting, the whole thing is SO senseless and boring it actually started to hurt physically.And while Audrey Tautou is just totally cute and lovable and Amélie Poulain is a multi-faceted, well constructed character, Caterine Frot - sadly - has no comedic talent whatsoever and her character Odette Toulemonde is dull, uninteresting and flat.The acting in general is way beyond terrible, so at least it's not Caterine alone that makes this movie an epic fail in my book. Forgive my rave, but I expected something soooo different - especially since it tries so hard to "be" Amélie. I realize, that (reading the other comments) not very much people will agree with me, but nevertheless it's how I feel.And oh, I got a DVD for sale, if you are interested ;-)

I read all the previous commentaries about this film, to see if I was alone in loving it as much as I did, and with pleasure can see that save one (out of seven) they all loved it. Maybe I have the same mentality of this low class department store clerk, that is able to levitate when she experiences supreme happiness.Why not. As they show it in the movie, not only high brow literature can give you high pleasure. Some trash once in a while can be truly satisfying indeed. And being a great fan of Almodovar movies, this one gets quite close to his trashy school of philosophy. I loved it. I loved everything about this movie.The main couple is so charming one would like to embrace them and tell them: I love you! This is the kind of fantasy movie that I would place next to "Miss Potter", "El laberinto del fauno" and "Les paraplues de Cherbourg", to me, masterpieces of their genre.The musical numbers are delightful because apparently "house made" they seem spontaneous and very casual. They just happened as one would start dancing and singing at home because on the radio they started playing our favorite song.I would recommend it to anybody of any age. This one should be called "La vie en rose"! And now I can see why Josephine Baker was so successful in France as a singer. She was a very light soprano (the perfect voice for Snow White --no pun intended), but her rendition of these songs are simply delightful, after so many years, and as a bonus, they give you and incredible pang of nostalgia!!

For those of you who came in late (any Phantom comic fans out there) Alliance Francaise and Palace Cinemas each in Australia put on a French film festival each year in Feb/March. This year it's 436 screenings nationwide with 37 movies and documentaries on offer.For me the gem of the festival was Odette Toulemonde starring Catherine Frot who was in last years The Page Turner and is quite a well known French actress.The Palace Cinema festival booklet describes this film as a joy. That would be understating the fact. I can't work out how I missed getting onto Frot before this. She is a delight, the other actors and characters in this are a delight. It's sort of like an "Italian for Beginners" feeling but French made. There's parts in here that rival the Notebook. Like many romantic comedies this film could be seen time and time again.Highly recommended... I give it 10/10. Catherine Frot is about 52. She has some moves and dancing in this movie that would make an African American envious. Great music with a bit of Josephine Baker going on (a fabulous soundtrack) and Catherine you are quite a mover in character shaking your bootie.Odette, her personality and outlook on life are a pure delight. I read recently a short article by a woman who finally realized that men do in fact like to sleep with women. Yes that's true. We men can never be sure if women in fact like to sleep with men. Some make it quite clear, others not so. But putting aside the physical, many men like or are really seeking to get close to a woman or be in her world. So here we have Odette doing her ironing in her petticoat, there's a knock at the door and she answers it. It's the simple things like this, the old Renault 10, her positive outlook on life that make this film so joyful. How could any man not be drawn to Odette.I might be late getting onto Frot as an actress but now the pleasure of seeking out her earlier films awaits.I confess to being a big fan of the French soprano Yvonne Printemps (1894-1979) who was on the French, English and American stage from around 1910 onwards,a founding member of the Parisian Comedy Francaise and an actress in about 6 or 7 films including "The 3 Waltzes" and "Paris Waltz" both available on Ebay on video or direct from the Bel Canto Society. More on her filmography at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0697869/ So the French have done "La Vie en Rose" with Marion Coutlhard documenting Edith Piafs life. My great hope is now the French have this under their belt that they will move onto a real star like Printemps.In Catherine Frot we have someone the right age (52 born 1956) about the same age as Printemps when she made Paris Waltz. Frot could do Printemps with her little finger, she could mimic Printemps mannerisms in an instant. I just hope someone in the French Film industry can see this. First Frot morphing Josephine Baker. Next stop Printemps!

Erich Emmanuel Schmitt is best known for adapting other people's work for both stage and screen rather than for Original Screenplays so an Original for his directorial debut is something of a rarity. As it happens I saw one of his most recent adaptations on the Paris stage when he took Noel Cowards 'Private Lives' and 'adapted' it to within an inch of its life so much so that what Coward wrote as a duet plus two thankless supporting roles emerged at the pen of Schmitt as a full-blown quartet. Armed with this information I had mixed feelings about Odette toulemonde even though he had obviously hedged his bets bu casting Catherine Frot in the lead. When she puts her mind to it no one can do Adorable like Frot (see Un Air de famille or Les Soeurs fachees) just as when she puts her mind to it no one can do Evil like Frot (see Vipere au poing) in short she's one of the best in the business: were she to read this fulsome praise she may have trouble keeping her feet on the ground which is precisely her problem as Odette; she is prone to levitating at odd moments from sheer joie de vivre though it may help if, as she does, you know a guy who resembles Jesus Christ, thinks nothing of walking on water and when last seen was walking up a hill carrying on his shoulders a large block of wood. A mother with teenage children but no husband Odette is ripe for romance and finds it via best selling novelist Albert Dupontel, as unhappy in this branch of the Arts as he was when he played a concert pianist for Daniel Thompson in Fauteuils d'orchestre. With actors like Frot and Dupontel - and Frot lip-synching Josephine Baker for good measure - you have to work at it to turn out something from the Kennel Club and Schmitt pulls off a hugely entertaining debut.