CLEMENTINE'S REVIEWS

7th October 2009
Shall We Kiss (2007)

Director: Emmanuel Mouret
Writer: Emmanuel Mouret
Starring: Virginie Ledoyen, Emmanuel Mouret, Julie Gayet, Michaël Cohen, Frédérique Bel, Stefano Accorsi  

What is the consequence of one single kiss?

This question is the concept of the film Shall We Kiss. Émilie on the last day of a work trip meets local Gabriel who takes her to dinner where they have a lovely time. At the end of their date, as he leans in to kiss her farewell, she stops him, trying to explain why a single first kiss can be extremely complicated. As Nicholas begs for an explanation, Émilie begins a story about Nicholas (Emmanuel Mouret) and his best friend Judith (Virginie Ledoyen) who begin to contemplate going beyond friendship.

Such a simple concept, yet they drag this out to a full 96 minutes - which is a bit to long in the middle. I would appreciate the simplicity more if there was less stilted storytelling and awkward acting. The writer/director/actor Emmanuel Mouret is the biggest culprit of all, his character Nicholas' Woody Allenesque self awareness, neuroticism and uncharismatic persona seems disparate with the idea of winsome Judith falling for him. I felt that he designed the script in order to spend as much time ravishing his beautiful co-star Virginie Ledoyen .

The interludes of the two strangers who meet are sporadically in the story around the main story, and they are probably more interesting to watch. Both Julie Gayet and Michaël Cohen are lovely, capable actors with a discernable chemistry and attraction. If we had focused a bit more on these characters the film would have been all the better for it.

Verdict: Novel and simple romantic storytelling unfortunately lacks sparkle.