A tantalising tale of love, lust, betrayal and jealousy, En plein coeur amasses to nothing more than a frustrating folly, more engaged with the grandeur of its own concept than producing any real substance.

A famous Parisian lawyer (Gerard Lanvin) becomes involved with a delinquent shoplifter (Virginie Ledoyen) following her attempt to rob a jewellers with a toy gun. Entranced by her passion and life, the lawyer leaves his chic wife, the timelessly elegant Carole Bouquet, to embark upon an affair so devoid of emotion, that the viewer must wonder whether the director himself needs an alibi.

The cast turn in adequate performances, although special mention should be made to Carole Bouquet's effortlessly aristocratic character who provides all moments of emotion. Simultaneously innocent and wise to her husbands impending betrayal, she forms an intriguing character, too frequently overlooked in favour of the disjointed and superficial Virginie Ledoyen.

En plein coeur is guilty of all the cliches that is normally to be found in North American film. On this occasion it is a French director who believes you should feel moved by the force of the leads passion when he tells his wife he's leaving her for a woman who makes him "feel young again." For me, there is no irony here, polishing and carefully arranging each cliche does not merit praise, only disappointment.

This is a film that should have been retitled "Stupid things men do for beautiful women". En plein Coeur is not a great film, but it is enjoyable and has some good moments and great characters, specially the one played by Carole Bouquet, a very good, strong female character, probably the best aspect of this film. Virginie Ledoyen is a beautiful and talented actress, and she proves it here with a good performances, even if the character is less than likeable.

Gerard Lanvin and Virginie Ledoyen first appeared together in Les Marmottes in 1993 and teamed up again five years later for this remake of Simenon's En Cas de malheur exactly forty years after Jean Gabin and Brigitte Bardot did it first time around. There's not a great deal of originality in the storyline - young, amoral girl seduces middle-aged lawyer, shacks up with him but continues to see her old yobbish boyfriend on the side and, oh, yes, it all ends in tears - but Lanvin and Ledoyen are two of the finest French actors working today and that's before we factor in Carole Bouquet as Lanvin's chic and talented wife, Denis Podalydes as a rival advocate and Francois Berleand, a partner in Lanvin's law firm. Guillaume Canet as Ledoyen's ex who won't let go has a nice line in obnoxious arrogance and makes it easy to despise him. Given the names I've mentioned no one should be surprised that the acting is top-notch if not first rate which means that this is well worth a look.