Coincidence is at the core of this lighthearted romantic comedy. A wealthy, egocentric industrialist Pierre (Daniel Auteuil of Cache) is married to Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas of The English Patient, Gosford Park) and is having an affair with supermodel Elena (Alice Taglioni of The Pink Panther). Pierre’s been giving her the line about getting a divorce (not likely to happen since his wife owns 60% of the company). Elena’s ultimatum is the divorce now or she walks out. 

In the heat of the discussion, Pierre follows Elena out to the street and a paparazzo snaps a photo of the two of them. It’s front-page news and Pierre goes into damage control. Fortunately, Francois (Gad Elmaleh) was walking by then and is in the picture. Pierre tells Christine that it’s not what it looks like, and he has his team hire Francois (a car park valet) to pretend to be Elena’s boyfriend. Elena goes along with it because of a $20,000,000 Euro payment to her account that must be paid back only if he divorces his wife.   

Both Pierre and Christine have “their people” spy on the hot couple as they try to set up and manipulate the situation. Pierre has met his match in Christine but has not yet figured that out. 

Francois is in love with his childhood friend Emilie (Virginie Ledoyen from Bon Voyage and 8 Women), who sees him only as her best friend. When he becomes a scandal sheet item with Elena, this finally starts to get Emilie’s attention. Many crazy and hilarious situations occur that are based upon ego, the power of money, and lust. 

This thoroughly charming film strikes the right balance of being not too cute or mean spirited. The good people do the right things and the not so nice people get what they deserve. These attributes, along with Director Veber’s ability to show how the class distinctions in France shall never really meet, provide thought-provoking depth that lingers beneath the surface of love, lust and romance.