DELICACY

Handsome, funny Francois meets adorable Nathalie in a café. Insufferably cute, the couple enters into a whirlwind romance and within a few screen minutes they are married. But of course, love like this simply cannot last (not in the movies anyway – and thank god too, 90 minutes of these gorgeous lovebirds tripping around Paris would have you green with envy and sick to the stomach). A tragic accident befalls our handsome hero and Francois is ripped from the script, leaving his young wife grief-stricken and alone.

Nathalie dulls her pain by throwing herself into her work. One day in the office, she briefly loses her marbles and surprises her bland, balding and aesthetically challenged colleague Markus with an impulsive, passionate kiss.

The possibility of romance between them is at first implausible, and then somehow not. Markus must overcome his crippling feelings of not deserving someone so beautiful, but Audrey Tautou as Nathalie makes the unlikely union seem perfectly possible. Delicacy is an unexpectedly enjoyable tale of second-chance love that will delight you with its whimsy and good-naturedness. (KSo) ***1/2