If you go to see "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not," the new French film starring Audrey Tautou -- the actress that made "Amelie" so irresistible -- expecting a reprise of Tautou's last film, you'll be in for a surprise.
The film -- directed by Laetitia Colombani and co-written by Colombani and Caroline Thivel -- feels like a light-hearted love story at first as Angelique (Tautou), a waitress and talented artist, is deeply in love with a handsome young cardiologist, Loic (Samuel Le Bihan).
It's spring, love is in the air and as summer approaches, Angelique learns she's won a coveted art scholarship and will have to spend her summer creating works for an exhibition. Meanwhile, she's house-sitting for a woman who will spend a year in Washington and has a luxury spread.
But she's preoccupied with Loic, who, it turns out, is married to a woman who is expecting the couple's first child. When she begins to fear that Loic is having second thoughts about leaving his wife for her, Angelique is distraught. Her friend David, a medical student with a massive crush on her, gets involved.
{INSERT_RELATED}But, remember, there are two sides to every story and about halfway through the film, the tape rewinds to the top and we get to see the story through Loic's eyes. Is he really the snake that we think he is? Is he really a successful cardiologist with a complete lack of understanding of the human heart?
What begins as the kind of romantic comedy in which you expect to see Hugh Grant or Julia Roberts, takes a sudden twist -- although attentive viewers will begin suspect some of what comes later.
Bright, alluringly colored (like "Amelie") but with a sinister undertone that Tautou's previous film lacked, "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not," is an entertaining and touching film.
And just when you think you can't picture the wide-eyed, funny-faced Tautou as anyone but the shy and retreating Amelie, she draws you right in and you forget all about her previous alter ego.
"He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" opens Fri., March 28 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
