Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
49
2012
53
Alice in Wonderland
41
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
84
Avatar![]()
69
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
53
Blind Side
53
Book of Eli, The
25
Bounty Hunter, The
43
Brooklyn's Finest
55
Christmas Carol, A
31
Cop Out
55
Crazies, The
57
Daybreakers
43
Dear John
56
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
27
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
55
Edge of Darkness
45
Extraordinary Measures
83
Fantastic Mr. Fox![]()
42
From Paris with Love
61
Green Zone
xx
Hot Tub Time Machine
65
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The
74
Invictus
57
It's Complicated
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Leap Year
32
Legion
42
Lovely Bones, The
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
34
Ninja Assassin
19
Old Dogs
39
Our Family Wedding
47
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
39
Planet 51
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Princess & the Frog, The
69
Redbelt
40
Remember Me
31
Repo Men
64
Road, The
57
Sherlock Holmes
47
She's Out of My League
63
Shutter Island
27
Spy Next Door, The
36
Tooth Fairy
44
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
83
Up in the Air![]()
34
Valentine's Day
25
When in Rome
71
Where the Wild Things Are
43
Wolfman, The
63
Youth in Revolt
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
67
3 Idiots
47
44 Inch Chest
82
Ajami![]()
71
American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
73
Amreeka
75
Art of the Steal, The
43
Barefoot to Timbuktu
19
Bitch Slap
49
Blood Done Sign My Name
xx
Bluebeard
24
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
76
Broken Embraces
52
Celine: Through the Eyes of the World
67
Children of Invention
53
Chloe
68
City Island
64
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
84
Cove, The![]()
83
Crazy Heart![]()
21
Crazy on the Outside
51
Creation
xx
Daddy Long Legs
81
Damned United, The![]()
57
Defendor
61
Delta
68
Departures
64
District 13: Ultimatum
72
Easier with Practice
xx
Eclipse, The
85
Education, An![]()
61
Exploding Girl, The
70
Eyes Wide Open
24
Falling Awake
81
Fish Tank![]()
56
For My Father
52
Formosa Betrayed
xx
From Mexico with Love
43
Frozen
xx
Ghost Town
77
Ghost Writer, The
69
Girl on the Train, The
75
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The
47
Good Guy, The
76
Greenberg
35
Happy Tears
68
Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suess
20
Harlem Aria
76
IMAX: Hubble 3D
11
Killing Jar, The
52
Killing Kasztner
xx
Kimjongilia
41
Last New Yorker, The
76
Last Station, The
47
Little Traitor, The
51
Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The
71
Lourdes
73
Me and Orson Welles
77
Messenger, The
79
Mid-August Lunch
57
Missing Person, The
76
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
80
Mother
50
My Name is Khan
85
Neil Young Trunk Show![]()
49
Nine
67
North Face
64
October Country
67
Off and Running
52
Paranoids, The
40
Phyllis and Harold
49
Pop Star on Ice
49
Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The
74
Prodigal Sons
xx
Promised Lands (Re-release)
90
Prophet, A![]()
76
Red Riding Trilogy, The
65
Runaways, The
32
Saint John of Las Vegas
83
Secret of Kells, The![]()
69
September Issue, The
36
Serious Moonlight
57
Severe Clear
63
Shinjuku Incident, The
35
Shutterbug
77
Single Man, A
76
Still Bill
34
Stolen
xx
Suicide Girls Must Die!
52
Tales from the Script
74
Terribly Happy
74
That Evening Sun
47
To Die for Tano
19
To Save a Life
63
Toe to Toe
69
Town Called Panic, A
54
Until the Light Takes Us
60
Videocracy
84
Vincere![]()
66
Waiting for Armageddon
45
White on Rice
82
White Ribbon![]()
xx
White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights, The
43
Women in Trouble
xx
Word is Out
64
Yellow Handkerchief, The
64
Young Victoria, The
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Avenue Montaigne

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 15 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Foreign | Romance
Written by:
Christopher Thompson
Danièle Thompson
Directed by: Danièle Thompson
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 16, 2007
DVD: July 17, 2007
Running Time: 106 minutes, Color
Origin: France
Language(s): French (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some strong language and brief sexuality
Starring Cécile De France, Valérie Lemercier, Albert Dupontel, Laura Morante, Claude Brasseur, Christopher Thompson, and Sydney Pollack
This film centers around Jessica (de France), a beautiful young woman from the provinces who comes to Paris and lands a job waiting tables at a chic bistro on famed Avenue Montaigne, the city's nexus for art, music, theater and fashion. (ThinkFilm)
Also On Metacritic
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
A thoroughly enjoyably and wistfully charming ensemble drama carried off with an irresistible Gallic flair.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
While this sort of thing can easily devolve into bourgeois comfort food, Thompson, a veteran of the genre, knows how to serve it up just about right.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Avenue Montaigne is not a film to be taken too earnestly, but it would be a mistake to miss its bittersweet undertones. 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.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Director Daniele Thompson gets the point across so airily and pleasantly, in a film cast to perfection, that it's no problem accepting the message with a shrug, while profoundly enjoying the messenger.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
That the film succeeds as well as it does despite a series of coincidences that strain credibility is a credit to a fine cast and a joie de vivre that pervades even the most implausible moments.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
The film uses effective acting, deft dialogue, and a sly wit to entertain, if not educate.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Thompson's stories are familiar, but she weaves them together with such assurance and good humor that they're equally soothing and thoroughly enjoyable.
Read Full Review >Premiere Ethan Alter
All of the actors are on point (Dupontel and Morante are particularly good), the individual story arcs are involving, if not exactly complex, and Thompson keeps the proceedings moving along at a comfortable clip.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Rarely has Paris seemed more enchanting than in Danièle Thompson's optimistic ode to Gallic romance.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Avenue Montaigne transforms an overwhelming metropolis into a user-friendly village with quirkily appealing characters.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Avenue Montaigne may not be a centimeter deeper than it needs to be, but you also won't be feeling that your pocket was picked when it's over.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Avenue Montaigne, is a delicious French pastry, tart and sweet, steeped in Parisian glamour.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Avenue Montaigne is a bonbon, not a bouillabaisse. But because this is finally a film about desire, it carries a bittersweet tang.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Ronnie Scheib
Effortlessly interlinking the stories through the jaunty perambulations of a fresh-faced waitress from a local cafe, Thomson's crowd-pleaser makes up in refined schmaltz what it lacks in innovation or profundity.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Bookending the film is the relationship between Jessica and the grandmother who raised her. This role is delightfully played by Suzanne Flon, who recently died at age 87. The film is dedicated to the veteran actress.
Read Full Review >Variety Lisa Nesselson
A well-oiled script is nicely served by a multigenerational cast, a bittersweet and consistently entertaining mainstream comedy that tackles the big themes of Life and Art with unpretentious brio.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ella Taylor
Not that Thompson's films lack for romance. She shoots Paris like Woody Allen shoots New York--ritzy, golden, and packed with chance meetings between highly strung arty types.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
For Yank color in her soap-bubbly movie, director Daniele Thompson has her pal Sydney Pollack appear as...a famous director.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt
With her lithe frame and insouciantly boyish mop of blond hair, De France is a particularly French sort of film heroine.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Originally titled "Orchestra Seats," Montaigne takes a page from the "Amelie" playbook, without the fancy visuals or magical realism.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Has a breezy, Altmanesque air, as it tracks the mini-dramas of its crisscrossing characters.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Aside from pretty people behaving cutely, there's just not much here, and even devoted Francophiles may nod into their cafe crèmes.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
It's formula stuff, to be sure, but full of feeling for the sweep of the past as well as for the unsettled, yearning present.
New York Magazine David Edelstein
Avenue Montaigne would be difficult to stomach if it weren't so light and uninsistent, and if its actors weren't so charming. I still rolled my eyes--but sometimes I do that when I get a really good croissant.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
A lightweight French comedy worth watching only for Cecile de France. The gamine actress - decked out in short reddish hair, black tights and a thigh-high mini - is charming as Jessica.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Bruce C. gave it a9:
Unmistakably French but delightfully full of surprises this unpretentious piece set in the most stylish part of Paris covers a range of people and their personal struggles. Fine acting performances superb photography and music and tasteful moments of pathos balanced with warmth. Ultimately an uplifting and enjoyable experience thanks to some imaginative writing and direction by Daniele Thompson.
Doug F. gave it a9:
A warm, enjoyable film - not being a film critic I'm not jaded and so loved it - youth, optimism, and open-heartedness cross paths with age, experience, and benevolence, and who wouldn't like to see them come together in mutual appreciation? The worst thing that happens is the heroine gets caught in the rain - the best things are the mutual reinforcemnt by the characters in each other's continued joie de vivre -- the US attempts at random-coincidence encounter movies seem to be straining for high-voltage ironic/Zen significance (Magnolia, Crash) or schtick and schmalz. But this film - ah, it was the best cinema experience I've had in several years, and it makes me want to brush up on my high-school French and emigrate to la belle France. I recommend it, subtitles and all.
Mary B. gave it an8:
My friend and I figured that this would be more of a travelogue on Paris. We were wrong! It was a funny, wise and very enjoyable movie. Viva la France!
Enrique gave it a3:
A less than mediocre 'feel-good' French export. Thompson--its writer director also responsible for "Jet Lag"-should make TV commercials instead. C. De France is not only a bad actress: she is absolutely intolerable.
Helene H. gave it a9:
I am French, and this may be the reason I so thoroughly enjoyed the playfulness and superb wit of this exquisite jewel of a movie. Valerie Lemercier is brilliant as usual and the rest of the cast is almost equally talented... As for the soundtrack, for someone like me who grew up to the sound of Juliette Greco, Gilbert Becaud and Charles Aznavour, it was a rare treat... Art, classical music,and French culture are offered on a silver platter to connaisseurs.... Bravo, bravo to the Thompsons (mother and son) for such a treat... Ffinally, as a French philosophy major who openly despised Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, I found it simply delicious to witness the scenes in which American film maker Pollack learns from the French comedienne Lemercier a different perspective and how to treat their story. The encounters between the two are pure delight, like a flute of champagne raised with a wink to insure that Sartre and Beauvoir will never be taken seriously again.... I highly recommend this movie to anyone with a fondness for Parisian comedy.
Heather P. gave it a10:
Endearing, intelligent, beautiful, Joyful, and the soundtract is superb
Marge B. gave it a9:
Charming, well-made film with excellent acting. It transported us to Paris for an afternoon from wintry NY and left us with a glow.
