Un Baiser s'il vous plaît (Shall We Kiss?) (2007)

76% of critics liked it
(72 reviews)
60% of users liked it
(1,869 ratings)

Emmanuel Mouret's romantic comedy Shall We Kiss? begins with two strangers who end up attracted to each other, even though they both are involved in relationships with others. The woman refuses to kiss the man goodnight after a dinner together, explaining that a single kiss can alter a life. This… More Emmanuel Mouret's romantic comedy Shall We Kiss? begins with two strangers who end up attracted to each other, even though they both are involved in relationships with others. The woman refuses to kiss the man goodnight after a dinner together, explaining that a single kiss can alter a life. This set-up acts as a framing device for the main story, a tale she shares with him about friends who complicate their lives by becoming sexually involved. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.
Directed By: Emmanuel Mouret
Written By: Emmanuel Mouret
Genres: Romance, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 27, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Feb 22, 2010
Studio: Music Box Films

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
More quirky than wacky, this winning comedy only hits its romantic high when we return to that framing story, the storyteller who won't casually kiss because she knows, damn well, there's no such thing as a casual 'French' kiss.
Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com
Mouret is the cinematic offspring of Woody Allen and Eric Rohmer. From the former he takes the actor-director presenting himself as neurotic but satisfying lover; from the latter he absorbs the pleasure of extended talk. Mouret's talk is enjoyable, but i
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Impossibly charming and impossibly French, Shall We Kiss? is a comic romance full of rueful musings about fidelity and true love.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
An engaging romantic comedy that's deeper, smarter and more pessimistic than it appears at first glance, a film with shrewd insight into the mysteries of human attraction.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
It's an ode to the absurdity of attraction.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
Perhaps the film's biggest weakness is that all the characters are so naive and petty you can't really work up much fervour about who sleeps with whom.
Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals
Charming, but too contrived for a great turn on
David Stratton, The Australian
The quiet joys of Shall We Kiss? are to be found not only in the observational writing and the pitch-perfect performances but in the way the mood shifts from tantalising foreplay to more serious matters.
David Stratton, At the Movies (Australia)
The influence of Woody Allen is obvious, but Mouret -- though he overdoes the tics and hesitancies of his nervous lover -- manages to make this combination of humour, sex and pain all his own.
Justin Strout, Orlando Weekly
It's the kind of total submission to a filmmaker that's usually reserved for edge-of-your-seat thrillers and, in a way, that's what Mouret has made: an expertly suspenseful romance.
Julie Rigg, MovieTime, ABC Radio National
The film goes badly awry, I think. There is something coy and miscalculated about it all. Mouret is quite talented as an actor, but maybe it's time he found another writer.
Amy Wheeler, FILMINK (Australia)
This is not your average romantic comedy. Shall We Kiss? simply delights.
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
It's a breezy, entertaining little film that ends up being more sophisticated and thoughtful about love than it first appears. Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss, and sometimes it's a lot more.
Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald
[The] polite inquiry [of the title] pretty well sums up the tone of this featherweight ensemble comedy about French people falling in and out of love.
Simon Weaving, Screenwize
This is a delicate and naïve piece of French fluff, part love story, part morality tale, part bedroom farce, and all very much in the style of writer-director-actor Emmanuel Mouret, a kind of comatose Woody Allen character.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
The addiction of French cinema to stories of love, lust, betrayal and romance continues unabated in the hands of Emmanuel Mouret, playing unassuming characters on screen in his own films, like this one
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
A kiss, like this deceptively simple love story, is none A kiss, like this deceptively simple love story, is none too simple at all.
Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune
You cannot talk yourself into passion, nor can you talk yourself out of it. The naive characters in Emmanuel Mouret's chatty romance try anyway.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Refreshingly, Mouret also shows that marital infidelity is not without serious repercussions.
Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl
Shall We Kiss? ...takes place in an obviously fictional world where everyone is sophisticated and beautiful and lives in great apartments ...

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cynthia S

The narrators storyline ruins what the rest of the movie seems geared to accomplish. What few merits this film has unfortunately fall apart by the end. If you feel for the characters at all, you will not by then. One of those movies that the critics seemed to like, and I just… More
The narrators storyline ruins what the rest of the movie seems geared to accomplish. What few merits this film has unfortunately fall apart by the end. If you feel for the characters at all, you will not by then. One of those movies that the critics seemed to like, and I just don't see why....
Jim H

Dumped and despondent, Nicholas needs to empty his balls, so he turns to his long-time best friend, Judith. But after their first affair, they realize that friends with benefits leads to love. Now committed to one another, they must arrange to lightly let down their other… More
Dumped and despondent, Nicholas needs to empty his balls, so he turns to his long-time best friend, Judith. But after their first affair, they realize that friends with benefits leads to love. Now committed to one another, they must arrange to lightly let down their other significant others. While billed as a romantic comedy - and there are certainly bits that attempt to imitate Woody Allen's best in manipulative and situational absurdity - there are only a few laugh-out-loud moments. This stems from the simple fact that these characters are remarkably staid and uninteresting -- or at least portrayed by actors who fail to give them much emotional life and presented by a director who shoots almost the whole film in motionless two-shots; the cinematography almost hearkens back to the early days of film when they thought that because the best seat in a theater was front and center, the camera shouldn't move from that position. What is more, we need someone - the actors, director, writer, craft service guy - to make a decision about whether Nicolas's original proposition is a crafty manipulation in order to fuck Judith or should we take him at his word that he simply, honestly needs physical affection and his best friend is the most logical choice. Is this a mature but ill-advised request or a clever ploy? A point so instrumental to the plot shouldn't be so mysterious. When we get to act two, the film's Woody Allen homages come to the fore. Now the couple has to manipulate Judith's husband to falling for another woman. But whereas Allen has a clear point about the monotony of monogamy and the cruelty/desperation (depending on the film) of humans in love, I don't see any such statement here. Rather, it seems like they're attempting to be logical and kind, but how is it that they fail to recognize the clear ethical dilemma in which they find themselves. Overall, <i>Shall We Kiss</i> is a structural and thematic mess with doses of charm too rare to ignore the film's flaws.
Nicki M

Slight movie - not an awful lot happens, but it is entertaining.... SPOILER...........A woman meets a man and tells him the story of what turns out to be the ex of her boyfriend. Through flashbacks you see what happened to that couple. Kind of a cautionary tale about going where you… More
Slight movie - not an awful lot happens, but it is entertaining.... SPOILER...........A woman meets a man and tells him the story of what turns out to be the ex of her boyfriend. Through flashbacks you see what happened to that couple. Kind of a cautionary tale about going where you ought not while in a relationship. Not an especially romantic film despite it's title, but it is cute. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Frederique Bel, is it just me who thinks she looks like a French Sarah Michelle Gellar?!
Mark A

Going in, this viewer wasn't sure about the format. Poorly done, using a present situation to tell another story can seem flat and highly contrived. But, in this case it works. A woman accepts a ride from a stranger and when, at the end of a pleasant evening he tries to kiss her,… More
Going in, this viewer wasn't sure about the format. Poorly done, using a present situation to tell another story can seem flat and highly contrived. But, in this case it works. A woman accepts a ride from a stranger and when, at the end of a pleasant evening he tries to kiss her, she demurs and proceeds to tell him the story of a friend of hers. The way the two stories are woven, fits together and gives a plausible explanation for the woman's hesitancy. As another reviewer has said this is incredibly erotic for the amount of skin that is shown on screen. The director has chosen to leave the juiciest parts up to the viewer's imagination, and that only serves to heighten the experience. This is a charming tale, told with wit and subtle visual gags. The actors are quite good, and the viewer finds himself quietly becoming invested in watching these two relationships play out. SPOILER! When the kiss does finally come, it is marvelous!
Walter M

In "Shall We Kiss?" Emilie(Julie Gayet) has a wonderful time being shown around Nantes by Gabriel(Michael Cohen). At the end of the day, he attempts to give her a goodnight kiss but she rebuffs him. For the reason why, she tells him the cautionary tale of Judith(Virginie… More
In "Shall We Kiss?" Emilie(Julie Gayet) has a wonderful time being shown around Nantes by Gabriel(Michael Cohen). At the end of the day, he attempts to give her a goodnight kiss but she rebuffs him. For the reason why, she tells him the cautionary tale of Judith(Virginie Ledoyen) and Nicolas(Emmanuel Mouret, who also writes and directs), two longtime friends. Judith is happily married to Claudio(Stefano Accorsi) while Nicolas has just amicably broken up with his girlfriend of two years. Missing intimacy, he visits a prostitute(Marie Madinier) which ends badly. So, Judith sees what she can do for him... "Shall We Kiss?" is a surprisingly gentle and droll comedy of manners that almost gets tripped up by a plot trap but recovers nicely. Usually, I have a problem with movies this talky, but here it feels completely natural, as a lot of it is delivered in an awkward fashion that captures the characters' feelings well with them being terrified to take the next step, symbolized by a kiss. But for men and women who are platonic friends, things may be perfect as they are. For Judith and Nicolas, the tragedy may come from them not taking action long ago when there were less complications.