Amelie

If sweetness were a crime, then this movie would be a capital offense. Lucky for us that’s not the case. This movie is one of the most delightful and hope-filled creations to grace the big screen in years. Perhaps that’s because Audrey Tautou is as resplendent, charming, and beautiful as her namesake, Audrey Hepburn. Or because Mathieu Kassovitz is more waifishly dreamy than Mr. Smith tripping off to Washington. Maybe it’s that the oddball cast of supporting characters are a bunch of lovers weaving themselves into our heart like our own children at a school play. Certainly director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and screenwriter Guillaume Laurant know how to concoct an inebriating potion out of beauty and zaniness. With equal mastery, cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel has a magician’s slight of emotion and flair for the pleasingly surreal. In the end perhaps Amelie’s true appeal is that it’s a fairy tale, and fairy tales are simply as good for us now as when we were seven. Whatever it is, DVD quality will only make this tour de eye candy all the more tasty. Careful, though. When our heroine looks into the camera it might be you who melts to the floor.