FILM

France/Belgium 2010 78 mins Subtitles Dir: Jean-Pierre Ameris Starring: Benoit Poelvoorde, Isabelle Carre

You know exactly what you're getting with a chocolate-themed romcom, both from the product itself and from the reviewer, who will be unable to resist the word 'confection' and descriptions ranging from 'sickly-sweet' to 'bittersweet'. On the sugar rush spectrum, this Gallic putative charmer is closer to 'Chocolat' than 'Like Water for Chocolate', exceeding internationally agreed whimsy thresholds on several occasions, and even breaking into regrettable song'n'dance interludes. Against that, it's nicely played by the two leads, and at less than 80 minutes is insufficiently calorific to fuel binge and vomit shame.

Angelique Delange (Carre) is a mousy, lonely thirtysomething spinster who's scared of, well, everything really and attends an 'Emotions Anonymous' self-help group. Jean-Rene Van Den Hugde (Poelvoorde) is the socially awkward owner of The Chocolate Mill - a small chocolate factory on the verge of bankruptcy. He has regular sessions with a psychiatrist in an attempt to overcome his fear of intimacy. When Angelique applies for a job at the Chocolate Mill, Jean-Rene is instantly smitten and hires her on the spot. A series of challenges set by his shrink sparks the inevitable romance between these two achingly anxious souls. But what Jean-Rene doesn't know is that Angelique is the secretive Chocolate Hermit, who whips up the world's most delicious chocolate but shuns all publicity.

If you're cringing already, this is not the film for you. But at least the timid twosome aren't repellently cute, and there's a terrific if all-too-brief explanatory cameo by Christiane Millet as Angelique's mum. Writer/director Jean-Pierre Ameris, who suffers from social anxiety syndrome himself, also delivers some fine set-pieces, including a magnificently awkward restaurant scene and a great moment where Angelique waffles on presumptuously about marriage and children, causing Jean-Rene to flee in terror. (Robin Askew)

Website en.unifrance.org/movie/31471/romantics-anonymous

Opens: December 2

Copyright Robin Askew 2011