Early on, a gruff, married businessman named Castella (Bacri) is overcome by a local performance of Racine’s “Berenice.” He’s so taken with the star, the aloof Clara (Anne Alvaro), that he hires her to teach him English and woos her with an earnest, stumbling–and genuinely touching–resolve, even as he’s mocked by her artsy friends and hectored by his wife (Christiane Millet), an interior decorator from hell. Meanwhile, Castella’s roguish bodyguard (Gerard Lanvin) and his naive chauffeur (Alain Chabat) fall for the same woman–a bartending hashish dealer (director Jaoui). The story lines weave gracefully in and out. It’s as if the movie’s a competition to see who knows the least about love.
Apart from the lulls indigenous to the foreign-film species, “Taste” is a very funny movie, full of eccentric, deadpan little moments. What’s more, it resonates, and has subtle, tender and acute things to say about romance, art, class and–why not?–interior decorating. It’s a winning tribute to the flighty Aphrodite.
