Avenue Montaigne (Fauteuils d'orchestre) (Orchestra Seats) (2006)

75% of critics liked it
(95 reviews)
63% of users liked it
(14,005 ratings)

A fresh-faced orphan from the provinces labors away at the last old-fashioned café on Avenue Montaigne as the Paris theater elite prepare for the biggest night of the year in Jet Lag director Danièle Thompson's whirlwind comedy of intersecting lives. Jessica (Cécile De France) may have been orphaned… More A fresh-faced orphan from the provinces labors away at the last old-fashioned café on Avenue Montaigne as the Paris theater elite prepare for the biggest night of the year in Jet Lag director Danièle Thompson's whirlwind comedy of intersecting lives. Jessica (Cécile De France) may have been orphaned at the tender age of four, but her doting grandmother (Suzanne Flon) did her best to bring the motherless girl up right. A one-time ladies' room attendant at The Ritz, Jessica's grandmother was a woman well known for her extraordinary taste. Upon arriving in Paris to work as a waitress at a modest café nestled between a renowned concert hall, a venerable theater, and a high-profile auction house, Jessica soon finds herself interacting with a curious cross section of the thriving entertainment industry. As rehearsals for the upcoming shows get under way and Jessica is assigned the task of delivering food to the hardworking actors and low-earning stagehands, she soon discovers that even the most famous of people are often forced to make difficult decisions in life.Jean-François Lefort (Albert Dupontel) is a classical pianist whose devoted wife has him booked at venues across Europe for the next six years. As the free-spirited musician struggles to eschew the formality of his upcoming concert appearance, self-made businessman Jacques Grumberg (Claude Brasseur) takes time out from his May-December romance and his stressful medical treatment in order to auction off a collection that he has been building his entire life and reach out to his estranged intellectual son, Frédéric (Christopher Thompson). Meanwhile, back on the theater front, popular television actress Catherine Versen (Valérie Lemercier) prepares to star in a farcical play, a famous American film director (Sydney Pollack) begins auditioning actors for an upcoming film about Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and a cheerful concierge on the verge of retirement (Dani) enjoys her final stint rubbing elbows with the biggest and brightest stars in Paris. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Danielle Thompson
Written By: Danièle Thompson, Christopher Thompson
Genres: Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Nov 8, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Jul 17, 2007
Studio: ThinkFilm

Critic Reviews

Peter Howell, Toronto Star
A film that seeks to amble it way towards resolution and which offers a few insights and smiles along the way.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Even if this fine French meal isn't as rich or feels a little less than it might have been, it's still delightful to sit through, course after winning course.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
The movie is as airy as a spun-sugar dessert, but Thompson's observations on the artistic life are both affectionate and knowing: Beauty and wealth, though inevitably compelling, are appreciated as means to humane ends, not goals in themselves.
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
Watching the charming Avenue Montaigne makes you realize not only how much we miss when mainstream French films are not on the movie menu, but how much we miss when American studios define 'romantic comedy' so strictly.
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
It's one of those 'what's-not-to-like' movies, a fantasy about life and Paris that passes painlessly, a trifle elevated by its Parisian settings and our desire to lose ourselves in them.
Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times
Avenue Montaigne is a bon-bon for culture tourists.
Brandon Fibbs, BrandonFibbs.com
Life and Art come together in Avenue Montaigne, a charming and accessible French export. Not too fluffy, not too deep %u2014 just right.
Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope
A light, frothy, intoxicating romantic comedy.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Filled with sentimentality, pretensions, unfulfilled ambitions and a host of dull characters faced with life threatening problems that verge on the ludicrous.
Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay Total
Una comedia simpática y pintoresca, si bien peca de algo de ingenuidad, cierta superficialidad dramática y una indefinición de tono que le quitan interés y credibilidad.
Sean Axmaker, MSN.com
[Director Daniele] Thompson has a light touch and an upbeat style that keeps the film flowing through the stories...
Anton Bitel, musicOMH.com
a frothy confection that, much like its characters, often seems at odds with its own ambitions.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
Daniele and Christopher Thomson's marvellously crafted script brings all the characters to life as they struggle to shake the worlds in which they live
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
There are French movies that are clearly made with a French audience in mind, and there are other French movies that have a non-French audience in mind. Daniele Thompson's "Avenue Montaigne" seems to be aimed at a third, highly-specialized audience; peopl
Ted Murphy, Murphy's Movie Reviews
While AVENUE MONTAIGNE is something of a trifle (which makes it easy to understand why it did not garner an Oscar nomination when there were far more deserving features), it still is a pleasant and enjoyable movie.
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Something like 'Love Actually,' in Gallic.
Josh Rosenblatt, Austin Chronicle
This is one of the wonders of Paris, I imagine, or at least of being rich in Paris: Even your misery plays like a fairy tale. In Avenue Montaigne, miserable souls are as common as raindrops, and each one is a portrait of privileged existentialism.
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
You know where to find "Avenue Montaigne." It's in Paris, near the intersection of Sappy Circle and Derivative Drive.
Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
A warm-hearted French confection, the sort of breezy, lightly sophisticated boulevard comedy that was once plentiful in Gallic cinema, and makes a happy comeback here.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Curtis L

I was pretty bored through this one. Seemed like a bunch of stuff was happening and I didn't really care all that much.
Mark A

Sweet tale of a young woman who moves to Paris, takes a job in a restaurant, and becomes involved in the lives of several local celebrities. Each of the characters are facing decisions regarding the future and the tale revolves around how each of them deals with his or her personal… More
Sweet tale of a young woman who moves to Paris, takes a job in a restaurant, and becomes involved in the lives of several local celebrities. Each of the characters are facing decisions regarding the future and the tale revolves around how each of them deals with his or her personal crisis. None of the world's problems are solved, but as an afternoon's light entertainment, this film is quite satisfying. A few questions linger as to motivation in a couple of cases, but not enough to detract from the sweetness of the story. A solid cast and a light hand at the helm by director Danielle Thompson. And Paris, ah, always beautiful.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "Avenue Montaigne," inspired by her grandmother who raised her, Jessica(Cecile De France) ventures forth from her native Macon to Paris. At first, she is unable to get a job but persuades the manager of Bar du Theatres, Marcel(Francois Rollin), that… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Avenue Montaigne," inspired by her grandmother who raised her, Jessica(Cecile De France) ventures forth from her native Macon to Paris. At first, she is unable to get a job but persuades the manager of Bar du Theatres, Marcel(Francois Rollin), that she would make a good waitress. It also helps that he is short two workers and that there is a triple event happening in the neighborhood coming up on the 17th involving a concert, an auction and an opening night for a play. The concert is to be given by Jean-Francois Lefort(Albert Dupontel), a virtuoso pianist. A wealthy collector, Jacques Grumberg(Claude Brasseur), is auctioning off his entire collection. And a soap opera star, Catherine Versen(Valerie Lemercier), is acting in a play to prove she can be a serious actress.[/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Avenue Montaigne" is a tiresome and uninspired movie set in the art world about a group of people who are making transititions in their lives. Odd as it may sound, Sydney Pollack gives an unconvincing performance as a film director. The movie only looks at art through the prism of fame and money, not talent, promulgating a class system where the unlucky majority is meant to serve the lucky few. Despite that, the movie does have a sound premise which could have worked if it had not been stated out loud in the opening minutes and if more emphasis had been on the rehearsals and less on the soap opera, especially if Jessica had just been relegated to the background, not the foreground.(Even then, she is only confined to one small part of a very large city which is portrayed only in picture postcard cliches.) [/font]
William G

Fr. dramedy is cute enough to stay afloat, heavy enough to remain grounded.
Patrick D

This film's sweet and I liked getting into the heads of all the characters, well the main ones anyway.
Janice :

Smooth and mellow... a nice watch on a sunday. Nothing extraordinary, but worth the watch.