Une femme de ménage (2002)

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

Claude Berri (writer)
Christian Oster (book)

Release Date:

13 November 2002 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

After his wife leaves him for another man, Jacques hires a housekeeper, Laura, to keep his Paris apartment in order...

Plot Keywords:

Housekeeper | Beach | Chicken | Paris France | Nudity

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Pierre Bacri	...	Jacques
Émilie Dequenne	...	Laura
Brigitte Catillon	...	Claire
Jacques Frantz	...	Ralph
Axelle Abbadie	...	Helene
Catherine Breillat	...	Constance
Apollinaire Louis-Philippe Dogue	...	Ernest, le barman
Amalric Gérard	...	Julien
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nathalie Boutefeu	...	Jeune fille au concert
Laurence Colussi	...	Femme à la terrasse
Djura	...	Chanteuse
Daniel Humair	...	Musicien
Xavier Maly	...	Assistant de Jacques
Pierre Michelot	...	Musicien
Abel Nahmias	...	Le voisin
René Urtreger	...	Musicien

Also Known As:

A Housekeeper (International: English title)
The Housekeeper (USA) (review title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity and brief language.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | France:U | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R

Company:

Canal+

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the film, goes for a swim. When she returns to the beach, she is wearing a completely different bathing suit.

Young female wanted to work in bachelor's flat. Won't have to do windows, only sex!

Claude Berri's latest film that just arrived in America is tailor made for losers of a certain age. M. Berri's picture is a fantasy that most men, abandoned by their former partners, for whatever reason, can dream of a great affair with a Lolita-like woman, who also can clean and put order in their own messy lives.

Jacques lives alone, but he can't bring order into his own existence, after his wife leaves. He then decides to take a chance on an inexperienced young woman, who has more than cleaning in mind. Laure, the housekeeper, he hires, is a woman in need of a great make over. She is as plain, as she is decent; she doesn't even know how to clean the apartment with the vacuum cleaner, preferring to do it the old fashioned way.

Slowly, but surely, she begins to attract this lonely Jacques, until they end romantically involved. Just when one thought this was the romance of a lifetime between these two star crossed lovers, M. Berri has a surprise for us.

Both Jean Pierre Bacri, as Jacques, with his Beagle face and droopy eyes, and Emilie Dequenne, as Laure, are very good.