Ma Vie en l’Air, the first feature film directed by Rémi Bezançon, gets off to a promising, quick-paced start, with a bitterweet Amélie-style flash summary of the main character’s early years, during which we learn that his mother died while giving birth to him in an airplane, which explains his fear of flying. Vincent Elbaz plays Yann, who grows up to be an airline safety expert, though he still can’t get on a plane, even if it means losing the woman of his dreams. We follow his adventures as he vainly seeks a replacement for her, in the company of his slacker best friend Ludo (marvelously played by Gilles Lellouche).

This is a romantic comedy in the best sense, with many laugh-out-loud and more gently humorous and touching moments. Like so many movies today, however, it just goes on

too long; tighter editing would have kept it from getting somewhat repetitious toward the end. We still recommend it, however, for its funny, mostly original (a few clichés crop up here and there) approach to an old story: a young man’s search for love.

© 2005 Paris Update