Filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunetยs whimsical comedy Amรฉlie asks one basic question: Can you take your own advice? A lonely 23-year-old waitress, Amรฉlie spends her time making other people happy, anonymously and from a distance. She plays matchmaker for a co-worker, persuades her father to tour the world and convinces a woman in her apartment building that her husband, who in reality abandoned her, sent her a final love letter. With the help of a reclusive neighbor, Amรฉlie eventually decides that she, too, should be happy but stumbles when it comes to actually meeting a man, discovering that moving from dreaming to doing isnยt easy without a guardian angel around to arrange everything.
Amรฉlie, which is known in France as Le Fabuleux Destin dยAmรฉlie Poulain (The Fabulous Destiny of Amรฉlie Poulain), won Franceยs Cรฉsar Award for Best Film and Best Director, and was named by The New York Times as one of The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made. It garnered five Acadamy Award nominations, but somehow was shut out of the Cannes Film Festival. See for yourself who was right ย the Times or Cannes? 11:55 p.m. Friday and Saturday. River Oaks Theatre, 2009 West Gray. For information, call 713-866-8881 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com. $6.50 to $9.50.
Fri., Feb. 20, 11:55 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 21, 11:55 p.m., 2009
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2009.