La femme idéale: A librarian finds his backbone, maybe?

Is it worth the watch?

Look, if you have a soft spot for quiet, older French comedies that don't try to reinvent the wheel, you'll probably enjoy La femme idéale. It’s light, a bit silly, and perfectly fine if you want to turn your brain off for an hour. If you need explosions or high-stakes drama, you’re going to be bored to tears within the first ten minutes.

Grégoire is basically the guy who gets talked over in every meeting. His colleague Courgéan is the one doing the talking, acting like he’s God’s gift to women. It’s annoying. I felt for the guy immediately.

Then Grégoire goes on holiday and meets Madeleine. Suddenly, he’s not the shy librarian anymore. He’s a changed man. Or at least he’s playing one on TV.

The office dynamic

When he gets back to work, he starts embellishing his story. Suddenly he’s a heartthrob. It’s honestly kind of funny watching a man who looks like he’s never kissed anyone try to act like a total player in front of a typewriter.

The whole thing reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in He Couldn't Fool His Wife. People lying to keep up appearances is just a timeless trope, isn't it?

Wait, what about Denise?

The real heart of the movie isn't the fake romance. It’s Denise, the typist. She’s been sitting there the whole time, pining for him, while he’s off chasing ghosts. It’s a bit predictable, sure. But it hits that sweet spot of being genuinely kind.

• The library sets are way too clean. Nobody actually works in a library like that.
• The lighting in the cafe scene is a bit weird. It looks like they’re being filmed through a screen door.
• The dialogue is fast. Sometimes too fast. I had to rewind a bit to catch the banter.

I caught myself thinking about Temptation while watching this, mostly because both films deal with people who aren't quite who they claim to be. Only this one is way less stressful.

The pacing is a bit uneven, honestly. The middle bit drags where he's just talking to his friends about his 'conquests.' We get it, you're lying, can we move on to the part where you get caught already? 🙄

Still, there’s a charm to it. It’s not a masterpiece, but it doesn't need to be. It’s just a nice little story about a guy who finally realizes he had the right girl sitting at the desk next to him the whole time.