We watch as Lucie, obviously a commuter, goes to work one morning. It is a complicated affair where several changes must be made. Once at her office, which she shares with two other women, they idle their down time with different activities on line like games, dating services and other trivial matters. As the blinds from their window are raised, the ladies notice a banner proclaiming 'Man Alone" on the balcony of the building across the street. What could the message mean? The office is full of speculations as most of the employees have seen the banner.
The scene changes to a park near where the office is located. Most of the employees go to have lunch at the park, Lucie included. We watch an assortment of characters enjoying the balmy afternoon at a tranquil setting. Among the visitors we find some fellows from a nearby hardware store, much like Home Depot. One man in particular, Aime, was asked by his boss to hand out the weekly circular advertising special sales, but he entertains himself making paper airplanes. One of those lands in front of Lucie, who looks directly at Aime.
The third part of the story is set inside the store. Aime, who shows signs of depression, loves to drink a liquid that is added to fish tanks. He and his fellow workers show an enormous ineptitude to help the customers that come searching for different tools and gizmos. Lucie comes in looking for a present for a retiring woman at the office. She wants gold fish to add to one of the presents for Mme. Renivelle. In the middle of the celebration, Lucie looks across the street and sees light inside the "Man Alone" apartment. In her heart she has a hunch she knows who is the dweller.
A good comedy by director Bruno Podalydes with a cast of what could be a Who's Who in the French cinema. This is a sort of a comic opera in three acts with whimsical overtones. First, there is the concern about what desperation the man that wrote the banner must be feeling. Not able to solve the puzzle, life intervenes in different forms. The only negative thing about the film is that most of the actors have a limited time on screen and some vignettes are not as fully developed as the others. Despite that, the comedy is fun to watch.
Florence Muller and Denis Podalydes are the actors that have the bigger parts out of the many luminaries that grace the screen with their individual cameo appearances. There are too many to just mention one. The ensemble acting the director gets from the large cast is remarkable. One can imagine the fun in the set as the film was made.
The scene changes to a park near where the office is located. Most of the employees go to have lunch at the park, Lucie included. We watch an assortment of characters enjoying the balmy afternoon at a tranquil setting. Among the visitors we find some fellows from a nearby hardware store, much like Home Depot. One man in particular, Aime, was asked by his boss to hand out the weekly circular advertising special sales, but he entertains himself making paper airplanes. One of those lands in front of Lucie, who looks directly at Aime.
The third part of the story is set inside the store. Aime, who shows signs of depression, loves to drink a liquid that is added to fish tanks. He and his fellow workers show an enormous ineptitude to help the customers that come searching for different tools and gizmos. Lucie comes in looking for a present for a retiring woman at the office. She wants gold fish to add to one of the presents for Mme. Renivelle. In the middle of the celebration, Lucie looks across the street and sees light inside the "Man Alone" apartment. In her heart she has a hunch she knows who is the dweller.
A good comedy by director Bruno Podalydes with a cast of what could be a Who's Who in the French cinema. This is a sort of a comic opera in three acts with whimsical overtones. First, there is the concern about what desperation the man that wrote the banner must be feeling. Not able to solve the puzzle, life intervenes in different forms. The only negative thing about the film is that most of the actors have a limited time on screen and some vignettes are not as fully developed as the others. Despite that, the comedy is fun to watch.
Florence Muller and Denis Podalydes are the actors that have the bigger parts out of the many luminaries that grace the screen with their individual cameo appearances. There are too many to just mention one. The ensemble acting the director gets from the large cast is remarkable. One can imagine the fun in the set as the film was made.
