Sadly Over-hyped

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This odd-couple ensemble comedy was reportedly inspired by "Hannah and Her Sisters," but in this case co-writers Jean-Pierre Bacri and Agnès Jaoui are working on a bigger canvas with a broader brush. Instead of those wrapped-too-tight Manhattanites and their 85-room apartments (very common in NYC), we get a dufus businessman's Norman cottage done up in Late Laura Ashley and the tiny "piaules" where a cute waitress (Jaoui, who also directed) cooks pasta for her boyfriends and deals a little hash or, as the case might be, a lovelorn chauffeur practises his flute. As the title suggests, there's an element of culture clash—M. Castella, the businessman (Bacri), is blown away by an actress's performance in a Racine tragedy ("Crap, it's poetry!," he grumbles as the play begins), but she can't get too interested, at least in principle, in a guy who tells peepee-caca jokes and confuses "Rigoletto" with the Juanita Banana jingle (she doesn't even know about the Danielle Steele thing…). And as with Woody, the script does pander a bit—M. Castella finally gets it right when he buys an opera CD and, to atone for an antigay slur at a gallery opening, an abstract painting that clashes with his wife's decor. Likewise, there's a funny moment when M. Castella's tough-guy bodyguard, Frank, exercises his droit de coolest guy in the room (trying hard to avoid a spoiler here), but it's the flute-playing chauffeur, Bruno, who turns out to be the better man. I'm not sure there are too many life lessons for us here, but "The Taste of Others" is lively and involving from start to finish; the dialogue is sharp and slangy, and if you learned French in high school, you may pick up some useful new words. Available on disk from Netflix.

Or this is how I saw it, eventually. Like Angelique, I'm someone who imposes their taste on others, so it took me a while to catch on. For the first half, I thought this movie was about infidelity, which it isn't really.Someone you thought was a boor can suddenly become a lot more appealing when someone else finds them attractive. It isn't just that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. It's that others see different things in people.I have a friend who can transform music for me, just by liking it herself. Music that is 'not my taste' comes alive when she says she likes it. Suddenly I become the person with a certain taste to the person with no taste.This is exactly what happens to characters in this movie. Castella is the pivot around which the various characters of this movie turn. He presents as a tactless embarrassment, a nouveau rich (please excuse my French) who travels with a bodyguard, Bruno. Castella doesn't care if Bruno is bored or not; it's his job. And there are other characters. The ones who have the farthest to fall when Castella passes through their lives are those who are quite sure their taste is far superior to his.Funny, subtle, very watchable, and I learnt from it.

I knew absolutely nothing about this film other than what the DVD cover said. In giant yellow letters were reviews saying "witty"and "laugh-provoking" and so I naturally thought the film would be a comedy. Well, to me it really wasn't. I did laugh once very briefly--and a small laugh at that. Now this ISN'T meant as negative criticism--the film's makers were not responsible for how it was mismarketed. The movie still worked for me as a romance but only once I let go of my expectations and forced myself to watch through the first 20 or so minutes (which were pretty slow), I found the movie interesting and different--something that occurs too seldom with films. I wouldn't strongly advise a person to seek out the movie, but it's a harmless diversion.The main theme of the movie is mismatched pairs. Mr. Castella is in an unhappy marriage and most of this seems to be because his wife hates people--making herself a lousy partner. The one laugh I had was when this terrible woman's dog bites a passerby. Instead of showing any sympathy, she blames the man! Then, you find out her dog bites people all the time but it's always the victim's fault! Mr. and Mrs. Castella go to a play and Mrs. Castella talks through much of the play and finds fault with everything. Mr. Castella usually hates the theater but is mesmerized by the performance of one of the actresses--the same lady who is also his English language tutor. Mr. Castella spends much of the movie trying to hang around this actress and her bohemian friends--even though he really has nothing in common with them and appears to have no chance with the lady.There are a couple parallel plots that also have to do with mismatched couples. One is Mrs. Castella who tries for once to reach out to another person--in this case, her estranged sister-in-law. Another involves a drug-selling lady who works in a bar and is pursued by a conservative man! All these relationships are difficult, if not impossible to believe. Some work out, some do not. Despite me NOT believing the old axiom that "opposites attract", the film is clever and well made--with very believable and low-key acting by people who act like real people. I respect the film a lot--though I didn't find myself thrilled enough to understand how it was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. But what do I know?Incidentally, Jean-Pierre Bacri not only played Mr. Castella but he also wrote the screenplay. I have seen him in several films and like his persona--an "everyman" who is pretty likable.

This film teaches us to appreciate "The Taste Of Others". It's about embracing the differences in others, while loving yourself for being different. We all judge people because they are not like us. If you really look and learn, you will see that these people have something to offer. They have a new and different perspective on things. Alright, enough preaching. I'll let the movie speak for itself.There is alot of talking in this film and not alot of action like in the film "Amelie". If you don't speak french, you are in for alot of subtitle reading. Still you will get alot out of it. Even though it was a major winner at the Cesar awards(French Oscar's), it's pretty good just the same. ENJOY!!