REVEW: ‘French Lover’ Overcomes Contrivance With Charm

In the Netflix Original rom-com French Lover, from director Lisa-Nina Rives, famous actor Abel Camara (Omar Sy) is down on his luck and stuck in a weird spot in his career. After a public embarrassment, he has a chance encounter with Marion (Sara Giraudeau), a totally normal person who barely knows who he is. They’re both nervous about possibly falling in love, but in the end, they can’t help themselves.

Marion is in the middle of a nasty divorce, and Abel was recently dumped, and it’s all that the media will talk about. But as Abel and Marion grow closer, all those troubles start to melt away. The only problem is, of course, that Abel doesn’t mention to Marion that his agent (Pascale Arbillot) has been trying to set him up with a fake girlfriend to satisfy the press. Of course, that causes a whole lot more problems than necessary as the movie goes on.

Omar Sy can charm your socks off in an instant. And he does, as soon as his Abel starts putting the charm on Marion. It’s really easy to love the two of them together when they’re happy and having fun. Despite being from different worlds, they get along well, and you want them to figure it out. And they really struggle to do so for a lot of the movie.

The couple, like in most rom-coms, can’t communicate. Sure, it’s a different-worlds setup where the characters don’t have any idea how each other’s worlds work. That’s fine and sometimes, even interesting in French Lover. However, Abel and Marion constantly argue about whether they belong in each other’s lives or not. It’s increasingly aggravating every time, because it’s the only way the movie tends to show them together.

French Lover cuts its awkward tension early on so Omar Sy’s charm can prevail

They can rarely, if ever, admit that they’re scared or overwhelmed and try to talk it through. It’s always a big blowout fight. After the first few times, it’s too much. It stops the movie from feeling fun, the way it deserves to feel, given the amount of charm both characters have.

The good thing is that the worst of the plot contrivance gets kaboshed at the halfway point. Most Netflix rom-coms take until the very end to get to this point. Their relationship doesn’t start on a lie, per se, like in lesser movies. But there’s an awkward tension that permeates the first half of French Lover until the situation about the fake girlfriend audition finally concludes. When it does, it’s not a strong conclusion, but it’s not a bad one either. Things move along, and it’s forgotten about, for better and worse.

The tension still persists, though. Marion and Abel start to fight even more than before. Their constant discord drains the fun out of the love and joy they otherwise exude. When the couple is actually spending time together, it’s always nice, at the very least, and charming at the best. Sometimes it’s a montage of moments at home, more often, it’s time with Marion’s family, who usually provide a few good chuckles along the way.

The fantasy at the center of French Lover is certainly dreamy.

French Lover has a side plot where Abel ends up in a movie with his ex, Léna (Cindy Bruna). Maybe it’s supposed to serve a will-they-won’t-they. Maybe it’s supposed to make Marion jealous. Either way, the setup doesn’t do much of either. The brief moment of will-they is quickly let go, and Marion’s jealousy is more based on her desire to spend time with the “real” Abel rather than the famous version of him who must always be on public display.

Nevertheless, the basic premise carries the movie through. The fantasies of getting to brush with fame without it taking over, or of leaving the limelight for a sense of normalcy, are equally satisfying. Plus, Abel is genuinely a nice guy.

He has an ego when it comes to his career that he needs to work on (with a therapist, not by yelling at Marion about it as he does). But he shows that he cares about other people just for their being, let alone how they support him, and that’s really lovely to watch play out from start to finish. 

French Lover avoids some, but not all, typical Netflix rom-com traps.

When it comes to their relationship, Abel’s affection is never anything less than genuine, and his intentions are pure from the very beginning. It’s not a typical rom-com situation where Abel meets a non-famous girl with the intention of taking advantage of her before falling in love.

They meet by chance, and he really just falls head over heels in an instant. It’s that verisimilitude that helps keep you invested in their relationship despite the frustrating lows. It’s just too bad they can’t lean into that love more regularly and have to resort to bickering and self-doubt over and over.

French Lover falls into some disappointing screenwriting pitfalls, but the charm of its two leads and the fantasy they get to fulfill together helps overcome the contrivance enough to leave you feeling good by the end.

French Lover is streaming now, exclusively on Netflix.