Synopsis: In their youth, Alice and Louis were lovers. Their romance fascinated a nation; he was a director and she was his muse, until Alice abruptly left France for England and never looked back. Thirty years later, Louis is being presented an award in England and Alice has been selected to present to him…
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Désaccord parfait 6.5

This a very plain story about two lovers who haven’t seen each other in 30 years, except in the media, and have been holding grudges since. For reasons that seem a bit contrived, they are finally forced to reunite at a gala.

As is typical of the genre, it’s all about the confrontations between the two. They come quickly and regularly, except that the duo’s barbs are often tired, overdone and predictable.

The only real reason to see the film are for Charlotte Rampling and Jean Rochefort, who are both quite good. Rampling is especially worth watching for her subtlety; there’s a lot going on under surface.

Her husband, Evelyn Gaylord, was an amusing addition to the mix because he often quoted wisdom from iconic writers but took credit – and then would invariably be corrected by his help. His butler was also a fairly enjoyable character.

For me, the film is notable only due to a love scene between Rampling and Rochefort. It was really surprising due to their age – they would have been 60 and 76 at the time! It was a very brave move on their parts, and they did it with grace and class.  It actually didn’t look half-bad; ageists shouldn’t feel compelled to look away.

All this to say that ‘Désaccord parfait’ is a light but unoriginal romantic comedy; it’s harmless, but predictable, and, ultimately, forgettable.

(I was going to give it a 6.75, but the abrupt, seemingly incomplete, ending put me off a bit )