| Priceless | 
 enlarge
| Director: Pierre Salvadori
Actor: Audrey Tautou
Studio: First Look Home Entertain
Category: DVD
List Price: $28.98
Buy New: $17.95
You Save: $11.03 (38%)
New (39) Used (11) Collectible (1) from $10.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 3069
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 111
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FLPD12609D
UPC: 687797126092
EAN: 0687797126092
ASIN: B001CIOCLC
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: November 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
On the french riviera nothing comes cheap & when it comes to men irene has very rich taste. One night she is duped at her own game. Her knight in shining armor turns out to have no shine at all. Irene however is the woman of jeans dreams. The only way to win her back is to turn the tables on her. Studio: First Look Home Entertain Release Date: 11/18/2008 Starring: Audrey Tautou Run time: 102 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
Priceless provides a sweet and sour look at the world of the super-rich. Jean (The Valet's Gad Elmaleh) works at a luxury hotel on the French Riviera. His opposite number, Irene (Amelie's Audrey Tautou), lives off wealthy men, like elderly benefactor Jacques (Vernon Dobtcheff). While staying at Jean's Biarritz hotel, Irene meets the bartender, mistakes him for a guest, and plies her considerable charms. Flattered, Jean neglects to tell her the truth, and they spend a drunken evening together. The next day, she's gone. The only trace of her presence: a discarded paper umbrella. A year passes, and Irene returns with Jacques, who dumps her when he find out about the cheating, so she bilks Jean out of everything he owns before disappearing again. Wealthy widow Madeleine (Marie-Christine Adam) offers to takes care of Jean's debts--for a price. And just like that, he's sunk to Irene's level. The next time she sees him, she quips, "Now we're equals." So, instead of teaching her the value of legitimate work, Irene teaches Jean how to play Madeleine like a violin. Following in the footsteps of Pierre Salvadori's Apres Vous, which centered around a suicidal sommelier, Priceless is unexpectedly melancholy for a comedy. Like the couple in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Jean and Irene are essentially two lost souls. Irene may be an icier creature than Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly, but Salvadori finds a satisfying way to tie a pretty bow on this somewhat prickly package and, naturally, the scenery is ravishing. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
The French are different from us... and far more entertaining January 5, 2009
Jean might well be the employee of the month at the luxury hotel where he works... if only someone would notice that he's working. He walks the guests' dogs, assists the housekeepers, totes luggage and mans the bar working hours that leave him asleep on his feet. Most men would pitty poor Jean (Gad Elmaleh), if he weren't so darn fortunate, at least for one night. A combination of factors leads him into a champagne cocktail-fueled night with Irene (perfectly played by Audrey Tautou). The polite word for her might best be "golddigger", there are plenty of less civil references that one might apply, however the vision of Ms. Tautou will make you forget any course language.
The problem is that she mistakes Jean for a potential meal ticket, only to discover that he is a lowly hotel employee. Well, that's her problem, his problem is that he's so smitten with her that he brings himself to the brink of financial ruin in order to win her heart. But Irene 's heart is not what you might call "winnable". Let's just say that she has come to enjoy the finer things in life, even if she does a poor job of holding on to them.
Jean is seconds away from being taken by the police when he is rescued by Madeleine (Marie-Christine Adam), a wealthy widow of a certain age. Irene is so amused at Jean's unwitting good fortune, that she schools him in the ways of her erstwhile craft, leading him to acquire pricey gifts from Madeleine. It makes for a nice little twist on the proverbial hooker with a heart of gold routine.
Yes, yes, this is an incurably French movie. The dialogue is punctuated by brief bits of awkward silence from time to time, and smoking is key to various plot developments. The "rich are different from the rest of us" theme meshes perfectly with the French Riviera locale. And Jean proves to be an apt student, while never losing his love for the beautiful courtesan, even at the risk of losing his... uh... patroness, Madeleine by trying to help Irene recover from another setback.
The end might be predictable, but the route that takes you there is anything but. Elmaleh almost reminds you of a sophisticated Peewee Herman (not an image that comes easily), and Tautou simply defines beautiful whenever she's on the screen.
True love = priceless. For everything else, there's Mastercard... January 4, 2009
2006's Hors de Prix (Priceless) tells the tale of Irene (a luminous Audrey Tautou, Amelie), a ruthlessly materialistic thirtysomething whose sole purpose is to seduce rich old men and max out their credit cards before moving on to the next bar. Her choice of hunting ground is the French Riviera. The tragic-countenanced Jean (Gad Elmaleh) is a hotel bartender who doubles as a dogwalker in order to put away extra money. One night, fate brings the two together, and Irene mistakenly thinks that Jean is rich, deciding to pursue him. Jean, however, is nearly penniless, but falls madly for Irene, risking everything to win (and keep) her approval.
The once-placid, rule-abiding Jean becomes a bit of a daredevil as he learns the ropes about being a boy toy to an older widow, netting 30,000 Euro watches, scooters, and suits as he manipulates her. Even as he becomes more like Irene, she is getting older and wants a secure future, and hatches a desperate plan to capture the man she was supposed to marry before he discovered that Jean and Irene were having an affair.
The lush cinematography perfectly captures the gorgeous coastlines of Nice, Monaco and Monte Carlo, the exorbitantly-priced boutiques that attract rich women like colorful butterflies, and the elegant palacelike hotels that hint at the luxuries of bygone eras. Many notable fashion houses make appearances; we see Irene purchasing (and wearing) Chanel and Gucci.
Charming and flirty without being sexually explicit, Priceless examines the lengths we'll go to secure another's affections, even if it means changing ourselves to please another, and the pursuit of true happiness rather than keeping up appearances. Full of laugh-out-loud farce, Priceless never felt as though it was scripted, and Gad and Audrey pull off the physical comedy brilliantly. This is a gem of a film that deserves to be seen before it's remade to suit Hollywood "aesthetics," where it will undoubtedly lose all of its charm and subtlety in translation.
 Blah Bonbon December 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In his 2006 film "Priceless," Pierre Salvadori delivers the utterly charming gamine Audrey Tautou ( "Amelie") adorned beautifully in luxurious designer duds against a spectacular backdrop of the uber playgrounds of the rich and richer in a supposedly light romantic comedy that should be as fun and frivolous as "The Valet (La Doublure)" but quite sadly just doesn't live up to its promise or premise.
Irene (Tautou) is the type of woman about whom all mothers warn their sons--even those sons who have passed the half-century mark. A pert and pretty 30-something year old, she preys upon men whose accumulated wealth and disposable income she more than happily helps convert into the finest jewelry, clothing and accessories to add to her collection all of which insure her an exclusive membership amongst the glitterati of Biarritz and Nice.
In the tradition of true romantic comedy, she doesn't reckon on Jean, (Gad Elmaleh) a befuddled and beleaguered pushover on the hotel wait staff whom she mistakes for one of the resort's millionaire playboys. But unlike most formula romcoms, "Priceless" abandons the poorboy-masquerading-as-richboy charade early on; our savvy French Holly GoLightly expresses her displeasure of Jean's pauper status and attempts to teach him the lesson of aspiring for something beyond his means. After Irene milks whatever paltry sum his bank accounts contain with the shameless abandon of any street hustler, the hapless Jean somehow incongruously finds himself a wealthy patron of his own and accepts his new role of gigolo and Irene's bemused how-to tutelage with the dogged eagerness to keep her in his life and a Gallic shrug of his shoulders. Suddenly the two are rivaling each other in the pursuit of accumulating bling while simultaneously attempting to avoid falling into each other's arms with little success.
Bottom Line? With such a fun and frothy adult premise, "Priceless" should have worked with the timing of Moliere and an undeniable chemistry binding the two leads. Instead, all that spectacular scenery is wasted in a flatland of blah predictability that doesn't even allow its audience to revel in anticipating what comes next. Tautou and Elmaleh don't really seem to click; rather they merely go through the motions of appearing as if they are crazy for one another without much credibility. The outcome glazes the audience over with a ho-hum superficially rather than scintillating with any real sparkle. Even the end revelation that love beats out greed suspends belief.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"
Priceless December 21, 2008
Delightful, well constructed and photgraphed movie. Should have had a better run in the US. What a nice change from the violent formula movies being churned out today.
 Charming French Film December 21, 2008
I'm going out on a limb and giving this film 5 stars. No it's not epic long lasting cinema, but it's a perfectly enjoyable, wonderfully well made, bit of entertainment. It's in the same vein as Cousin Cousine Cousin, Cousine, or when you read the synopsis, not a movie you would want to watch. However, the French have this ability to make films that take what, to American sensibility, would be an offensive film, and make it charming.
This film is a little charming film. From the start you are drawn in, beautiful scenery, an intriguing bell man (Jean) working hard to make money. Working so hard, Jean actually falls asleep standing up while working. And the counterpart is a young woman (Irene) with an older man. He passes out drunk on her birthday and she ends up with the Jean. You can think long and hard about what Irene does or is, but why? By this time you are hooked on the charm of this film. Just go along, enjoy the ride.
The scenery in and around Nice is wonderful. The people are beautiful. The language gorgeous. The sun, the sea, just enjoy.
We watched this movie on a cold December snowy evening, and enjoyed the full two hours non-stop.
The subtitles / translation is done rather well. The only nit to pick, the name of the film. Hors de Prix is more like outrageously priced, or extremely expensive. It's not necessarily pricelss. With the matercard ads we lean more to priceless meaning, can't be bought for any money. Like Jean, hors de prix, humans can buy these things, they might just have to take out loans to buy them. Priceless things can't be bought.
As was said in another review, the sex bits are very subtle. It's definately a romantic film. This is really a PG-13 film if you used language (the f word is never said or subtitled), nudity (there is none), and violence (somebody gets slapped with no blood) as your gauge (as the MPAA does on American films). However, the topic, well it's probably not going to be interesting to anyone under 15 or 16 anyway.
Very enjoyable film. Charming. A real pleasure to watch. A great cold night watch.
|
|
|
