However tempting it may be to salute any film audacious enough to punctuate its title, it must be conceded that Chic! doesn’t deserve that punctuation mark. Although pleasant in its way, thanks mostly to its engaging cast, there’s not a lot in this flat French comedy to exclaim about.
The unconvincingly contrived high concept here is that Fanny Ardant is a capricious top fashion designer who must have a male muse to inspire her. This means uptight company executive Marina Hands must persuade her earthy Breton gardener Eric Elmosnino to hang out with (but not actually shag) Ardant, providing inspiration, until the new collection is completed.
The setting would suggest that The Devil Wears Prada is a particular touchstone, but that latter film actually understood and appreciated the milieu it was satirising, whereas it’s obvious that hack director Jérôme Cornuau and screenwriter Jean-Paul Bathany take all their swipes at stereotypes that went out of date in the 1950s, around the time Kay Thompson was enjoining everyone to “think pink!” in Funny Face.
