As The stereotype goes, the French are meticulous cooks, sensitive to every nuance of the meals they craft. With her exceptional 2001 debut, The Taste Of Others, Agnes Jaoui took that trait and applied it to cinema, creating one of the most rewarding Gallic dishes of that year.
With a script once again co-written by Jaoui and her husband Bacri, this is a highly accomplished follow-up, slightly less enjoyable than its predecessor only because it's not such a joyous surprise. Like Others, it's a cutting satire concerning the academic and artistic middle classes, a malcontent bourgeoisie unable to appreciate their privileges.
This isn't only a comedy of manners, but also one of class and status. We're shown, for example, how the plain Lolita (Berry) is pursued by men only because of who her father is, while he himself gets away with being brutally honest with everyone because of his 'genius'. Clearly familiar with this bohemian world, Jaoui and Bacri offer an incisive, self-mocking insider's view, via some fascinatingly flawed characters and sharp irony.