Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

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

I saw this movie last night. I like it very much. Sure, I know what the ending will be since I have watched so many of these love films. What really caught my attention was when Wendy telling Xavier that she loves him and that though he is imperfect (who is perfect), compared to Ed (her former boyfriend), Xavier is a day at the beach. She then tells him, that a lot of girls fall for the beauty and perfection of that person, and that is all they want to see. She looks beyond that, she falls for the imperfection and the defects of Xavier. In real life, most of us only care for the beauty and the nice things of the person we infatuate with. We gloss over the imperfections. Once the beauty has worn off, we then notice the imperfections which we dislike. Eventually it will lead to a fallout. In a way this movie taught us that love is when you look beyond the beauty and perfection, you find the defects and imperfection, somehow you still love that person. It is quite different from yes, he or she has imperfections and defects, but I will be able to change these once we are together.

This is a lovely follow-up on L'Auberge espagnol. Nobody who enjoyed that should miss this. Especially if, like me, you like films that catch you up with characters you'd enjoyed before like Before Sunset/Before Sunrise. I wouldn't call this a sequel in the sense that it's a rehashing of the original film. Rather, it's a continuation or follow-up on the story. Loved it.If this sounds intriguing to you, it's great. But for the proper full effect, watch L'Auberge first.In all honesty, I now find myself saddened by the thought that M Klapisch may be done with them now. I hope that, in a few years, we get to see these old friends again. Only this time, get a better distribution company in the US. Unlike L'Auberge espagnol (which I saw at the cinema), if it weren't for Netflix, I wouldn't have known this film existed. I keep making deals with myself that I won't buy any more DVDs because we know they'll be obsolete in a few years, but here's another one I'll buy.

I loved first part and I as really afraid to see the second part comes worse. But I loved second part even a little more then the first one due to brilliant soundtrack and some Russian scenes. being Russian I sometimes do not like scenes of Russian life in western movies since they are full of stereotypes and stubborn Russians. But pictures of Russia and Russian characters in these film look so true and natural that I could not find any single point to criticize. No matter how old you are I strongly recommend to see this movie...the ideal scenario is to look first part when you are about 25 and the second part when you are about 30 - then it will be maximum close to your feelings.

Russian DOLLS ('Les Poupées russes') is the full of love folllowup by Cédric Klapisch to his highly successful 2002 film 'L'Auberge Espagnole', the film that tossed multinational young people together in a Barcelona apartment and watched them interact and create some sense out of the havoc that was their lives. Klapisch has fine comic timing, a sense of spontaneity, and a cast lifted from his previous film - all ingredients for a fine little spin on current relationships. If the film is too much in love with itself, (the self-indulgent multiple split screen viewing and back and forth pacing tends to be a bit cutesy), in the end there is so much fun and wry wisdom to spread around that many of the holes in the script can be forgiven.The story focuses on events five years after the Barcelona doings in 'L'Auberge Espagnole' and yet as the main character Xavier Rousseau (Romain Duris) narrates the current tale he finds the need for flashbacks to explain current circumstances. William (Kevin Bishop), the bigot from before who labeled roommate Tobias (Barnaby Metschurat) as a Nazi, has smoothed out a bit and in fact has found love in a Russian girl Natacha (Evguenya Obraztsova), a Russian ballet dancer who lives in St. Petersburg and the current story is supposed to be about their wedding in St. Petersburg which will also be a reunion for all the roommates from Barcelona. Xavier is a writer who is forced to be a ghostwriter for celebrities who want to publish memoirs because he has difficulty writing a silly television love series and is stuck in his writing of his own novel. He cannot keep relationships (but then very few in this group of friends can) and he teeters between his allegiance to his ex Martine (Audrey Tautou), while moving in on one of the celebrity interviewees Celia (Lucy Gordon). He is warned by his lesbian roommate Isabelle (Cécile De France) about his wanton ways but Xavier uses Isabelle as cover for his 98-year-old grandfather (Pierre Gérald), who insists he marry. Xavier toys with a beautiful black girl Kassia (Aïssa Maïga) and is rejected, and just about the time when Xavier feels as though he will never find the right girl ('You just keep opening them like Russian nested dolls hoping that the one in the center will be your choice'), his script is picked up by BBC and he flies to London to work with Wendy (Kelly Reilly - William's attractive sister, unsuccessful in finding a decent mate) and voila! The rest of the intrigue is best left to the viewer: it does become complicated and multilingual and hilarious...and touching.Weaving all the cast members form his first film into the resolution of the second film proves to have some problems in continuity, but then this is not great writing nor was it meant to be. This is French comedy in fine form and is a thoroughly entertaining film and the chance to watch some beautiful people display how crazy relationships today have become. Grady Harp