European Films

Go to the Quatre étoiles entry in our film database for the trailer, poster, ratings, your comments and to buy the DVD.

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A mousey Parisian English teacher called Franssou (Isabelle Carré, fom Se souvenir des belles choses) has a sudden windfall in the form of a € 52.000 inheritance from her grandmother, whom, or so the grandmother complained when she read her will, she rarely visited and never sent a postcard to. On a whim, she decides to leave her grey existence behind her and go to Cannes on the French Riviera, where she checks into the swanky Carlton hotel. A casual run-in with what seems a first to be a rich man but soon turns out to be a swindler with more than one debt changes her plans as she decides to offer the man a loan on her own terms. The film’s set-up is almost too outrageous to be true (and should warranted a "don’t try this at home" banner in the end credits), but Quatre étoiles is almost saved by its spunky performances and luxurious location work.

José Garcia (Le couperet/The Ax) stars as the con man with multiple names and passports in an affable performance, though he never really seems to generate any true chemistry with Carré. The biggest laughs are in fact not his or even Carré’s but François Cluzet’s, who steals the show as an ex-Formula 1 driver who is as rich as he clueless and who becomes caught up in a scam that has been masterminded by the dynamic duo. The film runs too long to be fully effective (its set-up section in Paris could have done with a generous trimming) but if you are into French situation comedies on exotic locations you could do worse than this light trifle.