That was an excellent one.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This is a neat little movie full of very human characters you will come to love. Even the supporting roles are wonderfully written and acted. Overall, the script is a masterpiece of understatement, and an example of artful writing paired with precise performances. A lot of the point is actually conveyed between the lines, in what isn't said, which is a brilliant approach for a film about people who are too shy to speak. Given the above, one might wish they'd paid better attention to the translation. Time and again important nuances in the French lines are lost in the English subtitles, often for reasons that are hard to fathom. (I've worked as a translator and know how heartbreaking some choices can be, but most of the out-of-sync stuff in Romantics Anonymous is easily expressed in English.)Just two examples: In a significant scene, a character is told, "You're going to have to touch someone." This was translated as "Touch someone." Another time a character is uncharacteristically outgoing, and another one says, "You're not sick, are you?" But at the bottom of the screen it says, "Are you feeling alright?" Not only does this mess with the theme of the film - that these people live in fear of misfortune - it also flattens a much funnier joke. Similar humbugs rain down in Romantics Anonymous. I don't know why the studio's translator made these choices, but given the tone-deaf nature of the work I'd bet he or she was simply handed a list of lines to translate and not shown the film itself. As a final indignity, there's the unforgivable use of a subtitling machine that deals with diacriticals by *dropping the accented character entirely*. In a French film!! Therefore, not only does the expression "crême de la crême" appear as "crme de la crme", but the male lead's own name - Jean-René - is consistently written "Jean-Ren" throughout the movie. Shameful treatment for a film that deserves better. If you speak any French, even just a bit, try to understand as much of the dialogue as you can while you read the subtitles; a lot of easily-understood genius is lost in the clunky translation.

This movie I would recommend. I watched it on the Tuesday, right after Thanksgiving Monday in Canada. It was pouring with rain outside in the middle of autumn but this movie seemed to warm me up - even if it was only by the imaginary connection that I had to these film-screen fake actors on the big screen. It did not seem to bother me that I was connecting with the people in the movie. Instead it brought me a gentle-ness of being. The story-line is a very uncomplicated one and indicated to me and even the most timid of individuals can find their romantic better half. This movie is slightly about mental illness and at the same time it gets contrasted with such a logic and socialization that the mental illness like symptoms seem to disappear like the rainbows after the rain. This movie is very hopeful and optimistic, something which I perhaps needed after a week of survival manual labour and tired employment days.

'Romantics Anonymous' is a silly comedy about the emerging relationship between two very shy people. It combines sub-'Amelie' winsomeness with most of the standard clichés of the romantic comedy genre (which are, as well as predictable, completely unnecessary given the problems of its characters), and shows no real commitment to exploring the characters' inner natures. Indeed, the film shows little commitment to anything: a pair of isolated musical numbers typify a film with lots of ideas, all given the thinnest of treatment and bundled together in a very short movie. I've seen plenty of less pleasant films; but this just feels amateurish.

If you like to come out of the theatre smiling and nodding to your fellow audience in a manner that says "that was a lovely bit of nonsense and all's well with the world" then Romantics Anonymous is the perfect antidote to the Hollywood flash, CGT and emptiness.We all know what the outcome will be more or less from the start but the journey is the thing and for the gentlemen among us there is the beauty of Isabelle Carre to enjoy on the journey. Looking at the other reviews I haven't seen any reference to the director's tip of the hat to Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music in the scene where Angelique dances down the shopping arcade with her samples suitcase.A little gem. Go and see it. You won't be disappointed.