Never Been Kissed 15
Directed by Raja Gosnell. Starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, John C Reilly, Leelee Sobieski, Garry Marshall
Drew Barrymore's first venture into production is a custom-made star vehicle designed to display her flair for quirky comedy. She plays a mousy, awkward, 25-year-old Chicago sub-editor who finally realises her ambition of turning reporter when she's assigned to go undercover, posing as a high school student to write an expose on the mores of today's teens. Having had a truly miserable time in her own high school days, she sets about getting it right second time, but there are complications, not least when she falls for her English teacher (Vartan). This broad but sweetly-natured romantic comedy is peppered with amusing throw-away humour.
Le Diner De Cons/The Dinner Game
Directed by Francois Veber Starring Thierry Lhermitte, Jacques Villeret
Originally a stage play by writer-director Veber which played for over 900 performances in Paris, this is a classically-structured French farce achieved with such a deceptive simplicity that its stage-bound form rarely detracts from a regularly hilarious film which zips along at a cracking pace for a fleeting 80 minutes or so. The title refers to a weekly dinner held in Paris where the regular guests vie with each other to bring along the most idiotic companion they can find. Lhermitte plays one of the organisers, a self-centred publisher who finds an ideal candidate in a bumbling and gullible minor treasury official (Villeret) who is truly disaster-prone.
Place Vendome
Directed by Nicole Garcia. Starring Catherine Deneuve, Jacques Dutronc, Emmanuelle Seigner, Bernard Fresson
The remarkable Deneuve won the best actress award at the 1998 Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of a former jewellery dealer, now an alcoholic, more often in than out of her rehab clinic. When her husband dies in a car crash, she begins to regain control over her life in this meandering movie whose listlessness is compounded by dreary lighting. The cast, and Deneuve in particular, work valiantly to transcend the movie's lapses.