Blind Date (2015) [NR] ****

A film review by Brent Davidson, 25 Feb 2016

In a modern world of online dating, how often can one find themselves talking to someone they have only seen a couple of pictures of? Or even forming relationships over continents with someone they have never seen? All too often is probably the answer, but what if the person you were talking to was an (unfortunately) non-soundproofed wall away?

Machine (Whosit, Melanie Bernier) is a classical pianist breaking away from an ambiguously oppressive piano tutor, moving into a relatively crappy apartment in Paris - thankfully it has enough room for her baby grand piano! Machin (Whatsit, Clovis Cornillac) is a reclusive eccentric game inventor who enjoys peace and quiet while he works (which is always). What a conundrum they find themselves in! As always with close proximity and clashing personalities, they fall in love... But don't worry, definitely not a spoiler, it's super obvious.

Conspicuousness aside, what's great about this film is the implied back stories. Nothing is overly explained, but you know that both of these characters have come from a place of emotional pain and oppression, and in finding each other are released from that. It might be a credit to French cinema that these parts of their lives don't need explanation, just briefly mentioned to add some wonderfully subtle depth.

This subtlety doesn't really translate to the rest of the film; while very sweet, it follows a very formulaic romantic comedy - albeit a beautifully quirky one. The performances are all strong and the direction and writing is a little heavy-handed at times. Especially a certain orgasmic Chopin scene. Oh boy.

This is definitely a date night choice for this year's Alliance Française French Film Festival with enough quirk, charm and heart to keep everyone who sees it happy until the very end. Who doesn't love an uplifting rom-com? [Davidson’s rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars = 87.5%]

Labels: comedy, Netflix, Paris, romance
Original title: Un peu beaucoup aveuglement
IMDb 66/100
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=63, viewers=77)
Netflix 
Original review