Un Homme a la Hauteur (Up for Love)
It starts simply, like so many movie love stories: Diane, a lawyer going through a tough divorce, leaves her phone in a bar, an intriguing stranger picks up it up and calls her at home. The two hit it off and arrange a lunch date but there’s a hitch: Alexandre may be charming, funny and every bit the dashing hero of Diane’s dreams, but he’s also short. So begins Up for Love, Laurent Tiard’s remake of Argentine-Brazilian film Corazon de Leon. As time goes on, Diane struggles with the opinions of friends, relatives and her ex, Bruno.
It’s a sweet, lighthearted rom-com and though it offers no twists to the traditional Hollywood romance, it’s certainly appealing enough to win most over. The film owes a lot of its success to leading man Jean Dujardin (The Artist), who oozes charisma and does wonders with the rather run-of-the-mill script. Of course, he is in no way vertically challenged and owes his small stature in the film to digital editing and, more often than not, it shows. Up for Love is certainly in no way a boundary-breaking beacon of tolerance, but it’s well-meaning. Dujardin’s performance gives enough depth to the role to make Alexandre’s pain tangible. Diane’s struggles are a little muddier – her main concerns throughout are whether or not she can cope with the social stigma of dating someone so obviously different; while it’s handled more sensitively than some recent depictions, it does wear a little thin.
That aside, Up for Love makes for great summer viewing. The leads have excellent chemistry, the humour – if a little too reliant on Alexandre’s height – is playful and ever-present. Though it certainly holds no surprises, it’s genuinely enjoyable.
Natasha Furlong
Un Homme à la Hauteur (Up for Love) is released nationwide on 5th August 2016.
Watch the trailer for Up for Love here:
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