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Two out of Five stars
Running time: 100 mins

Mes Amis, Mes Amours has a likeable cast, but it's let down by a script that fails to capitalise on its premise and a lack of chemistry between Lindon and Ledoyen.

What's it all about?
Directed by Lorraine Levy, this French romcom stars Vincent Lindon as Mathias, a divorced bookshop employee who moves to London on the invitation of his best friend Antoine (Pascal Elbe), a similarly divorced architect whose son is friends with Mathias's ex-pat daughter. When Mathias moves into the house next door to Antoine, he comes up with the idea that they should knock down the adjoining wall and live in one big house together, but their domestic harmony (and Antoine's list of strict house rules) is soon jeopardized when Mathias falls for gorgeous French reporter Audrey (Virginie Ledoyen).

The Good
The performances are fine and it's good to see Virginie Ledoyen on screen again. Similarly, the film's glimpse of London's French ex-pat community would be intriguing if it were in any way convincing.

The Bad
Unfortunately, the London setting serves no discernible purpose in the film – it's not as if Mathias even falls for an English woman, which might have at least offered some comedic possibilities. It also suffers from a bad case of Poor Geography Syndrome (driving to Piccadilly via Tower Bridge and Battersea Power Station, for example), whilst Mathias and Antoine's trip to ‘the strip clubs of Old Compton Street’ will provoke unintentional laughter from Londoners.

However, the biggest problem is that the script fails to capitalise on the Odd Couple set-up of Mathias and Antoine living together – it's never even made clear why it might be a good idea in the first place, other than the fact that Mathias wants a bigger place to live. Similarly, there's no chemistry between the perpetually hangdog Lindon and a clearly-too-young-for-him Ledoyen, which kills the romance dead before it even gets off the ground.

Worth seeing?
The performances keep this watchable but it's let down by a weak plot that makes it hard to care about any of the characters.