Light and fluffy as only the French know how

Author: berylsmiaow from United States
20 October 2005

If you don't expect too much other than an enjoyable care-free 90 minutes, Housewarming will deliver in bucket loads. The basic premise is a single mum cum lawyer cum human rights activist who works so hard she ignores how dilapidated her apartment is until her mother suggests she should take advantage of her now departed squatters in the upstairs apartment and do some renovating.

She hires a rather dubious Colombian architect to do the designs and he in turn hires some equally dubious Colombian builders. What can go wrong, does go wrong, with walls falling down, baths being cracked, fires burning, dodgy electric wiring, etc, but the whole way through Chantal (the ever charming, ever gorgeous Carole Bouquet) just about manages to hold on to her sanity, even when trying to dodge the amorous businessman she saves from prison at the beginning.

The film is an absolute riot, and in case you think it's a complete farce, it also touches on the increasing problem of illegal immigrants in Paris and how badly treated theyare. Don't let that put you off though, this is a real gem of a movie.