Jaoui plays the part of Agathe Villanova, a well-known feminist writer who, during an unseasonably rainy summer, travels to her native Lubéron in the south of France for a political rally and to help her fragile younger sister (played by Pascale Arbillot) sort out their recently deceased mother’s belongings. A local downbeat film-maker, Michel Ronsard (Bacri), and his friend Karim (Jamel Debbouze), persuade Agathe to be the subject of a documentary series on ‘successful women’.
Jaoui and Bacri’s now customary combination of touching relationships and wider social concerns is deftly and entertainingly handled throughout. The main characters come across as fully human – simultaneously exasperating and many-layered – in particular Agathe, whose political beliefs don’t seem to bring her or anyone else in her life much contentment. Indeed, as the film progresses Agathe begins to unravel, falling prey to unccustomed self-doubt.
The performances are all good and Bacri, as the rather inept Michel, lights up the screen with his charm and comic timing. The scene where Jaoui and Bacri study and contemplate an ant as it scuttles around on the ground is both amusing and touching in its suggestion that we are all little more than helpless insects during our time on earth.
The film is ultimately all about breaking down barriers and prejudice, but it is slighty disappointing that the discussions about feminism and racism sometimes lack subtlety. And the film ends rather too neatly. Still, a Jaoui film is always a deeply rewarding experience, and this film is no exception.