Over the years, Walter has given us noir and cosy; he’s given us contemporary and historical; he’s given us thrillers, police procedurals, whodunnits and virtually every variation of crime show you can imagine. But this is a total departure. Ladies and gentlemen, Walter presents to you – a rom-com.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading this article now.
At the end of the day, good drama is good drama. You don’t need a succession of dead bodies or mysteries to solve. And Walter invariably finds something to entertain us, whatever the country of origin or genre.
I’m not particularly an expert on rom-coms, but I have recently witnessed what I think is the best series of the genre I’ve ever seen in the Australian show, ‘Colin From Accounts’. I binged that in a couple of days and found it equal parts hilarious, tragic and poignant. I thought it was utterly brilliant. So, in terms of rom-coms – for me, ‘Colin From Accounts’ is now the benchmark.
‘Love And Trouble In Paris’ (or L’amour (presque) parfait in French) centres around Julie. Julie (Maud Baecker) is a beautiful woman who has, and always has had, man-trouble. Her ex – who also happens to be her landlord and boss – has dumped/fired her; and now she finds herself without a job, unable to pay her rent, and with no-one to partner her at her sister’s wedding.
Whilst at said wedding with her friends Ava and Manon, the waiter overhears their conversation about her situation and convinces her to get a roomie to help pay the bills. It is suggested (so as to avoid any potential romantic entanglement) that she advertises on a website specifically for gay men looking to find accommodation. The waiter convinces his straight friend, Stéphane, to apply. Stéphane gets chosen from all the candidates and moves in with Julie – all the time continuing the pretence of being a gay man.
Meanwhile, when Julie accidentally picks up the wrong phone at the wedding and plays back a message intended for a different woman, she ends up becoming besotted by Max – a man she’s never met, but who has seduced her with his beautiful words intended for a woman, Julie believes, isn’t worthy of him.
You get the idea – it’s typical rom-com affair. A woman has zero luck in romance, gets obsessed by someone who probably isn’t going to be any good for her; whilst all the while, there’s a perfectly good guy right there – Stéphane – hiding in plain sight.
‘Love and Trouble in Paris’ is fun, fluffy and an okay way to pass an hour (there are six episodes in total). The acting performances (particularly from Maud Baecker) are impressive, Paris is looking sunny and enticing (no piles of garbage in the streets like the last time I visited), and the script is amusing, but never side-splitting. Let’s face it – it’s no ‘Colin From Accounts’. But it is a pleasant enough watch, if you enjoy romantic comedy. And well done to the WP team for branching out into something different.
Walter Presents: ‘Love and Trouble in Paris’ is available as a full boxset on All 4 via Walter Presents now.
