Marion Cotillard is playing Fanny Chenal
English title:

Directed by Ridley Scott Written by Marc Klein (screenplay), Peter Mayle (novel) Genre Romance, Comedy, Drama Tagline Everything matures... eventually Theatrical Release UK: 27/10/2006, USA: 10/11/2006, France: 03/01/2007 DVD Release USA: 27/02/2007, UK: 07/05/2007, France: 22/08/2007 Starring Russel Crowe, Marion Cotillard, Albert Finney, Abbie Cornish, Tom Hollander, Freddie Highmore

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Max Skinner is a highly successful investment expert (Russell Crowe). When his estranged uncle dies, Max returns to the vineyard of his childhood. His intention at first is to put the past behind him and sell the vineyard as quickly as possible. But instead, he discovers a part of himself that he had lost since he had last been there...

She plays Fanny, the local cafe-owner. She is careful not to get hurt (again) and is therefore cautious in getting closer to Max. On the other hand she is very charming and out-going by nature, so.... Marion certainly is everything one wishes for a film's love interest - beautiful, charming, alluring, mysterious etc - but not much more since her character is somewhat limited by the script.

• Filming Locations: Bonnieux; Chateau la Canorgue; Gordes; Rail Station, Avignon; Marseille Provence airport (France), Bloomberg Offices, Finsbury Square; Bluebird Cafe, Kings Road (London, UK)
• During Max's date with Fanny, several of the clips playing in the background are from the French film Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot.
• According to director/producer Ridley Scott, every scene of the film was shot within eight minutes of his home in Provence, where he has been living for 15 years.

I love well-made romantic comedies. However, more often than not I'm disappointed. Same here. The premise, beautiful French countryside and Marion Cotillard sounded good enough to me. Although I did enjoy the scenery and Marion was charming and beautiful I never really felt the story and the characters. Maybe me not being a 'fan' of Russel Crowe didn't help either. Anyway, it was a lovely film but I don't think I'll be watching it a 2nd time any time soon. Of course if you like to hear Marion speak English with that lovely French accent of hers this is the film to watch.
by Maria