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In Bed With Victoria

4/10

Stars: Virginie Efira, Vincent Lacoste, Melvil Poupaud, Alice Daquet, Laurent Poitrenaux

Director: Justine Triet

An amiable French dramedy about hyper lawyer Victoria Spick (the French title is simply Victoria, presumably changed here partly to avoid confusion with the English TV series), who's so wrapped up in her cases that she can't stop talking about them even during her frequent bouts of (very) casual sex.

The meandering narrative has Vicky dealing with various cases, principally one in which old friend Vincent (Poupaud) is accused of wounding his tempestuous wife, a deed he says she did herself, while dealing with her ex (Poitrenaux), who has published a scandalous blog with a thinly-veiled portrait of herself as the wife from hell.

Oh yes, and she has two small daughters, whom she can't seem to keep a babysitter for, until solemn Samuel (Lacoste) turns up, an ex-drug dealer in his early twenties who will work for her for nothing, both as trainee lawyer and babysitter, in order to get the experience. All he asks is bed and board, and if you can't see the ending coming from here, you haven't seen many screwball dramas (a Hollywood remake with Reese Witherspoon is surely in the works).

There's a dalmatian that hates its master. and a chimpanzee that takes photographs, but it all add up to very little in the end, and Vicky, well though the experienced and attractive Efira plays her, is a tiresome soul to be with. The age disparity between her and Samuel - Efira is 40, Lacoste 24, could work well, but doesn't really, not here.

David Quinlan

France 2016. UK Distributor: Cinefile. Colour (unspecified).
96 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 2, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 1, Swearing 1.

Review date: 25 Aug 2017