Shall We Kiss?

Released Mar 27, 2009

1h 42m

Comedy

Romance

List

78%

Tomatometer

73 Reviews

62%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Emilie (Julie Gayet) meets Gabriel (Michaël Cohen) while traveling out of town, and the two of them hit it off. They spend the evening happily enjoying each others' company, until Gabriel asks her for a kiss. Emilie refuses, and then explains why. She tells an anecdote about her friend Judith (Virginie Ledoyen), a married woman who once said yes to a kiss in similar circumstances and unleashed a whole series of uncontrollable events, which Emilie relates through flashbacks.

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Critics Consensus

Shall We Kiss? combines just enough romance and laughs to make for a charming French take on Woody Allen comedies.

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Caryn James

Marie Claire

No need to resist this enchanting, airy trifle with a surprisingly sober twist.

Dec 14, 2017

Full Review

David Fear

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

Ben Kenigsberg

Time Out

Rated: 4/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

David Harris

Spectrum Culture

Feels like little more than an entertaining confection that does not reveal any greater truths about human nature.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 9, 2019

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

Positively crackles with lively French wit and captivating romance.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 7, 2019

Full Review

Dan DiNicola

The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY)

It is, hands down, the best date movie in town.

Feb 5, 2018

Full Review

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Audience Member

I can't find the right adjectives to describe just how grandiose this was. Hands down the best Romance movie I've watched this year. Julie Gayet is life.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

kinda lame and no ha ha

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

a movie with good potential but not to my expectations... bad directing and horrible acting has killed it.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excellent depth in plot. Humorous, yet still a good final message..even though--well, I won't ruin the ending. ;) The modern scandalous romance films pale in comparison.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

kevin w

Convuluted hijinks as friends decide to take things just a little step furthur to temporarily ease the loneliness of one ... nobody'll get hurt, right? We'll still be friends, right? Wrong. You could pass on this light truffle.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Shall We Kiss (2007) may not require much deep thought but nevertheless it is has the same pleasant and quirky feel like most romantic comedies. The main characters are delightful, charming, and know how to engage their audience. What seems to be most noteworthy of all their performances is the chemistry they have with one another. The sexual tension and love between the characters is so raw and present in their expressions that the audience cannot help but feel a sense of commitment to them and their relationships. The music soundtrack is by Schubert and Tchaikovsky, and it helps add to upbeat and light flair of the film. Though the film contains charm and character you cannot help but question how realistic the story line is. The characters approach love and sex with such recklessness; you wonder why they are unable to just act their age. They may act competent and composed, but they treat adultery and betrayal with such abandonment you wonder if they have no shame. Not to mention, Shall We Kiss (2007) likes to draw out the most uncomfortable of scenes, leaving any one in their right mind squirming and praying for it to be over. This film was written and directed by Emmanuel Mouret, who also plays the films main character of Nicholas. Though he is well known for being both a director and an actor; he has received more praise and recognition as a director. Though he did not receive any rewards for this film, he has won countless others including: Best Screenplay for his film The Art of Love (2011). As a director he chooses very bland costumes and set design to focus all the attention on the dialogue, which is very apparent in Shall We Kiss (2007) with all the beige apartments and costumes. By drawing attention away from the cinematography, the audience can focus on his main ideas. Emmanuel Mouret seems to be communicating two main ideas in his film. The first idea follows a repeatedly used cliche theme for romantic comedies: a man and a women cannot be just friends if physical attraction exists between them. The main characters Judith and Nick had shared a beautiful friendship for years until the day that Nick asked her to give him the physical attention he has been lacking in his life. Though they thought they could go back to being friends, it proved to be impossible because of the physical attraction developing into love between them. This idea is exemplified in a scene where Nick pulls Judith aside at an art gallery and tells her that he is in love with her and cannot stop thinking about her since they had acted upon their physical attractions. True to cliche romantic comedy form, Judith agrees and they give into their sexual desires for one another. The second main idea is that the regret of adultery eventually catches up to you. This is exemplified by the fact that Judith does not seem to have much remorse for her adulterous actions, until she had to come clean to her husband that she was cheating on him. Afterwards, she tells Nicholas that she cannot be happy for a while unless her ex-husband is happy again. Emmanuel Mouret proves that no form of cheating is free from remorse. Though the film had its strengths and weaknesses, one aspect of this film was consistent: it always oozed French culture. Down to the composers mentioned, paintings on the wall and the way the characters dressed, there was nothing un-French about this movie. For example the women are always dressed classy and with minimal makeup. The film even ended in typical French form: leaving us with no clear answers of what happened to the characters, and leaving it up to our own imagination. For example, we wonder in the end if the last kiss scene was truly platonic or if it will develop into something more. Though Shall we Kiss (2007) may not be the most memorable of romantic comedies; it is defiantly worth seeing!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

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Emmanuel Mouret

Director

Virginie Ledoyen

Judith

Emmanuel Mouret

Nicolas

Julie Gayet

Emilie

Michaël Cohen

Gabriel

Stefano Accorsi

Claudio

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Synopsis

Emilie (Julie Gayet) meets Gabriel (Michaël Cohen) while traveling out of town, and the two of them hit it off. They spend the evening happily enjoying each others' company, until Gabriel asks her for a kiss. Emilie refuses, and then explains why. She tells an anecdote about her friend Judith (Virginie Ledoyen), a married woman who once said yes to a kiss in similar circumstances and unleashed a whole series of uncontrollable events, which Emilie relates through flashbacks.

Director: Emmanuel Mouret
Screenwriter: Emmanuel Mouret
Distributor: Music Box Films
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Original Language: French (Canada)
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 27, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 20, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $535.4K
Runtime: 1h 42m

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