Pierre Salvadori is too good a writer director to have to 'steal' from others but alas that's what's happened here - to a certain extent. Back in 1999 Tonie Marshall wrote and directed Venus Beaute' which centred on the Beauty Salon of the title and three of its employees, all looking for, rejecting and/or finding love. Nathalie Baye had the lion's share of screen time as the senior of the three employees, the other two being Mathilde Sagnier and a young actress who had caught Marshall's eye, Audrey Tautou, whom she cast as the youngest of the three. The film picked up several awards including no less than three Cesars (the French Oscars) for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Newcomer, Tautou. Now, eleven years later Salvadori casts Tautou as the owner of a hairdressing salon anxious to secure a love life for her mother, none other than Nathalie Baye. Technically Salvadori made two mistakes because Baye walks away with the picture from under the nose of the 'star' Tautou. To be fair Baye is one of the finest French actresses of her generation and has walked away with more pictures than Tautou has appeared in. Salvadori, of course, worked with Tautou on Hord de Prix (Priceless outside France) which scored at the box office despite a dubious premise which it really needed Billy Wilder to get away with. This time around Tautou is noticeably losing the bloom of youth which has been her stock in trade for so long - as well she might at 35 - and appears to be straining at times to look cute. On the other hand plots like this - mistaken identity involving romance - are mere finger exercises for French movie makers so there is a certain amount of charm and skill on display but the best thing about it by a country kilometre is Baye.
Review of De vrais mensonges
