Queen of Hearts (2009)

I was recently at a wonderful family gathering in Baltimore. En route to the East Coast, I got delayed for quite a few hours in Chicago (it turns out that the Windy City was aptly named that day, and airplanes do not appreciate wind as much as other things that fly, especially when it gusts unpredictably and close to the ground). To pass the time, I watched a couple of movies that I was reasonably certain my spouse would appreciate being excused from viewing. I am someone who lives very much in the moment, so I couldn't help talking some about said movies, and one of my very favorite people who I see reliably when my husband's family gathers together said about French movies "It isn't that I don't like foreign movies. Not at all. It is that I don't like movies that lack a plot." I laughed out loud at the time, and I am still laughing. It is a very reasonable gripe about the classic French romantic comedy. And he has a very reasonable expectation for films. It is just that while this genre very much appeals to me, when he said that, I couldn't for the life of me think why that is. Since then, I haven't made any progress on that front, but if you like that sort of movie, this one is very fun (and there is plenty of playful sex to keep someone who finds that to be adequate compensation for a lack of a plot to be kept happy). Here is the basic plot: Valerie Donzelli plays Adele, a young Parisian who flings herself wholeheartedly adn histrionically into self-pitying despair when dumped by boyfriend Mathieu. Relocating to the living-room floor of abrasive, mysteriously eye-impaired cousin Rachel (Beatrice de Stael), who encourages her to use sex with strangers to get 'back on the horse', so to speak. She throws herself enthusiastically into this task, all the while taking for granted Pierre, an obvious Mr. Right. (Jeremie Elkaim does amusing quadruple duty as all these male characters). The absurdist humor harkens back to early Woody Allen movies with a French signature.