There's something in the setup of Heartbreaker that betrays the ending, at least it does if you've an expectation for the predictable. There's also something that sets up hope that this interesting premise will defy inevitability and break new earth in the mostly arid fields of romantic comedy.

Alex (French heart-throb Romain Duris) and his sister run an ethically dodgy business that destroys relationships for money. You don't like the dropkick your best friend is about to marry? Call Alex who trades on charm and good look to seduce any woman with the Mission: Impossible-styled support of his sibling and her husband. As he zeroes in on his target with a series of well rehearsed options, Alex might grab a chaste kiss but it goes no further. As soon as they're certain their target is clear of trouble, it's job done and Alex disappears. They run into trouble of their own however when contracted to rid ultra-rich Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) of her perfect English fiancé Jonathan (Andrew Lincoln).

Heartbreaker is good fun in these initial stages. Alex might be a cad, but at least he's a charming cad, leading women only to the point of recovery, not desolation. His sister gets most of the best lines, and her marriage provides entertaining support to the motif of Alex's tendency to cut and run when his emotional life get tough. It's what makes him so good at his job. The arrival of Juliette brings all this to a crescendo when Alex finds himself too attracted to his targe, raising the question of who’s heart will be broken by film’s end?

Which brings us back to hope and expectation. The questionable morality on which the story sits gives grist to potentially great comedy. Yet as director Pascal Chaumeil steers the story toward a less than arresting conclusion, Duris and Paradis fight to keep our attention. They're not served well by direction that rids their relationship of any chemistry or spark: if you're expecting Bogart and Bacall you'll be disappointed. It's hard to imagine quite what they find in one another, or what we were expected to see in either of them. Which would matter less if the story offered a little more than a quick dissolve to will-they, won't-they?

If you're happy with a light twist on routine rom-com, Heartbreaker delivers with George Michael and Dirty Dancing bright among the highlights. Similarly the backdrop of France’s breathtaking Cóte D’Azur lends a welcome distraction. Most times that's enough but sometimes you're left looking for something more to round off the experience. This is one of those sometimes.

// COLIN FRASER

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