Director Coline Serreau’s follow-up to the wildly successful Trois homes et un Coufin (the inspiration for Three Men and a Baby) is a charming romantic comedy set against the background of boardroom intrigue. Successful businessman Romuald (Daniel Auteuil, Hidden) barely notices the black woman, Juliette (Firmine Richard), who cleans his office nightly. When Juliette tells Romuald that two of his senior colleagues are planning to oust him he can hardly believe it – but she turns out to be right. Thanks to Juliette’s intervention, Romuald salvages his career, but when she wants his help to bail her son out of jail, he isn’t there for her. Cuckolded by his wife and forced to live in Juliette’s cramped apartment, Romuald slowly realises that only one woman can satisfy his romantic desires but having already been disappointed by five husbands will Juliette feel the same way? Cross-cutting between the life-styles of rich and poor and between whites and blacks, Serreau’s observations about France’s social and racial divide are deftly made. The spirited performances also ensure that Romuald et Juliette is a generous and surprisingly uplifting romance; the delightful interplay between Auteuil and Richard (who had never previously acted) suggesting that everyone has the right to follow his or her heart.

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