Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

"Avenue Montaigne" is the English language title to this film though the French title is totally different. Why studios completely redo titles, I have not idea.The film is about a young woman who obtains a job at a restaurant directly across from an auction house and a performing arts center. Through the course of this film, this woman of humble origins manages to meet and get to know people who are the cream of the arts world. How she wanders into their lives and does tiny little things to help them reminds me a lot of the French film, "Amélie"--though in this case, often the help wasn't done intentionally and the humor far more subtle. It's exceptionally difficult to summarize or describe this film other than it's about this woman meeting others who are at crossroads in their lives.The acting, direction and production overall is lovely and subtle--not the sort of film most American audiences would like since there are no special effects or excitement, per se, but the film is fascinating and excellent for those who favor acting and substance over glitz. A nice film well worth a look.By the way, that IS Sydney Pollack as the American director "Brian Sobinski"--and why they didn't use his real name is beyond me since he was essentially playing himself.

An oh so cute, naive, guileless, and somewhat ditsy mademoiselle from the sticks comes to Paris to follow her grandmother's advice and "push her way in" and see what happens. She lands a job as a waitress in a little café that never hires women. She is hired because the owner needs help during a trifecta of events about to take place near the café. A recital by a great pianist; an opening of a new play starring a famous daytime TV comedienne; and an auction of an art collector's works.As she waits on the customers, both in the café and in their work, she meets all three of the main players in the events. The poetic license taken is that all of these people would take time to chat; open up and share intimacies with our little gamine. But she is oh so cute, and oh so socially clueless, that she charms them. Through her meanderings we see all the stories of the main protagonists emerge. The pianist wants to quit formal recitals; feeling hemmed in by the pressure. The actress wants to break out of her "popular but shallow" roles; and the collector wants to sell off his possessions because he is dying and he needs the money for his last days with his mistress.In the end all of the loose ends are tied up and our heroine ends up with the son of the collector. It's all very pleasant, and at times earnest, stuff - but it is all so derivative and staged!

Greetings again from the darkness. Terrific little French film with many subtle performances and script nuances. Director Daniele Thompson gives the film an intimate feel mostly through the wide and sparkling eyes of Cecile De France as Jessica.There are a few overlapping story lines, all of which the eager Jessica manages to nose in on. While her looks remind of Brittany Murphy, she brings the spirit of Giulietta Masina ("La Strada") to the role. All of the supporting actors do a very nice job, but Valerie Lemercier really stands out as Catherine - the soap opera actor trying so hard to impress big time director Sydney Pollack. Another stand out is Dani, who seems to freelance her way through life and the role.There are some nice shots of Paris, but of course, it is never enough. The pace is traditional French cinema as the dialogue is measured, but the emotions are the real story. Jessica basically lives out the life that her grandmother has spent years describing. While most of the film is upbeat, melancholy is not in short supply. Also, some tremendous music throughout - especially the Liszt and Mozart pieces.

"The question is, what's this all about, and why must we concern ourselves with the 'predicaments' of people who from the looks of it are so singularly fortunate in life?" (Chris Knipp).Chris Knipp, no offence, hasn't understood the movie's main idea at all. This, in my experience, is what the movie is all about – the separation between "high class" classical music and life. Classical music, as all music, stems from life itself, is inspired and shaped by it. One can see how, exemplified by the pianist, this form of human expression is put in the strait-jacket of so-called "high culture". Said pianist is fortunate indeed to have his talent, but he's hardly able to breathe, to enjoy and live his talents because he's made to put up a show, to dance to the tune of what he himself calls "the system".