Heartbreaker

This broad romcom-caper from France attempts to put a Gallic twist on a very familiar Hollywood template. Romain Duris plays Alex, a smoothie seducer secretly hired by glowering fathers to break up their daughters' unsuitable relationships. Yet he's a gigolo-assassin with principles. Alex won't get involved unless he judges the relationship to be unhappy anyway, and won't actually sleep with the target – good-guy necessities that put a strain on this high concept from the outset. He is commissioned by a wealthy magnate to be the "bodyguard" for his daughter Juliette (Vanessa Paradis). Does Alex stay professionally detached and resist the urge to fall heart-shatteringly in love with lonely, vulnerable Juliette? Does he heck. Duris shows us his comedy chops and his very useful dance moves, and this might even get a Hollywood remake. But the deja-vu factor is a little too high.