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'Priceless'

Rating: Rating:

Jan Stuart

March 28, 2008

Gad Elmaleh, the disarming French-Moroccan star of "The Valet," is the chief reason to see this slick comic truffle set along the Cote d'Azur. Elmaleh elevates the nettlesome role of Jean, a retiring hotel bartender mistakenly thought to be a wealthy guest by Irene (Audrey Tautou), a serial gold-digger bored with her sugar daddy of the moment.

Irene soon discovers her mistake and kisses Jean off, but not before the two have had a torrid affair that leaves the bartender smitten. As Irene pursues her next big spender, Jean shrugs off her hostility; he trails her about the luxury haunts of Nice, where he is reeled in by a high-rolling matron who grooms him to be her boy-toy. Surprise, surprise: Once Jean has attained the swagger and trappings of a first-class gigolo, Irene regards him in a new light.

Directed by Pierre Salvadori, this broadly amoral take on "Breakfast at Tiffany's" suffers from a serious case of who-should-we-care-for: He's a sap, she's a soulless vamp, their patrons are either cruel, self-deluding or both. Elmaleh cunningly navigates the metamorphosis from schlump to stud, but at the end of the day we resent Jean for being so utterly bereft of standards (other than those measurable by the libido) when it comes to choosing the woman of his dreams.

(2 STARS) PRICELESS (PG-13). 1:44 (sexual content, including nudity). In French with English subtitles. At Cinemas 1, 2, 3 and Union Square, Manhattan.