Love Etc.

This modest, deliciously bittersweet romance self-consciously evokes the structure and spirit of Truffaut's masterpiece JULES AND JIM, with a less capricious heroine. Pierre (Charles Berling) and Benoit (Yvan Attal) are best friends, even though Pierre is a freeloader who lords his sexual success over shy Benoit, who can't scare up any action on the romantic front. That changes when Benoit answers a personal ad placed by Marie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a funky art restorer. But Pierre soon begins feeling neglected by Benoit, who's been transformed by his affair with Marie, even though Benoit incorporates his pal into their vacations and life together. Without really ...