Céline Devaux’s charming debut feature rustles up an original confection from such unpromising cupboard staples as a fortysomething single woman, a return to a childhood home after the death of a loved one, and at least one unsuitable suitor.
Blanche Gardin, who is best known in France as a stand-up comic, is tremendous as Jeanne, an environmental entrepreneur on a mission to save the world and its oceans from plastic with an undersea doodah that will suck up microplastics. Sadly, her big eco-start-up sinks, both literally and figuratively, leaving only embarrassing viral footage of Jeanne swimming desperately in its wake. Suddenly, her mantra – “You are amazing and you do amazing things” – is entirely redundant. As is she.
She’s bankrupt, but she has a lifeline. Her caring older brother, Simon (Maxance Tual), pays Jeanne’s way to Lisbon, where the siblings have inherited their late mother’s apartment. Sifting through the matriarch’s things provides a series of Proustian SFX. Playful animated inserts provide punchlines and dramatisations of Jeanne’s innermost thoughts. It’s a device that never feels superfluous here.
For all the jadedness, this is a tartly flavoured romcom, wherein Jeanne’s shifty ex-boyfriend Vitor (Nino Lopes) competes with a total oddball called Jean (the delightful Laurent Lafitte), whom Jeanne meets at the airport. This contest, and lively family get-togethers featuring Jeanne’s nephew and Jean’s niece, add to the fabric of a fun film that lightly, improbably touches on such weighty themes as environmentalism, mental health, suicide and gentrification.
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It’s a great showcase for Devaux, who has previously premiered prize-winning short films at Cannes and Venice – and is certainly lovable.
Everybody Loves Jeanne is on limited cinema release and on Mubi
