Amelie ★★★½ Amelie from Montmartre; The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain; Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain 2001 (R)

Paris waitress Amelie (Tautou) has led a solitary, but not wholly unpleasant, existence. When she finds a box of childhood treasures behind a wall in her apartment, she sets out to return them to their original owner. Accomplishing this, she begins to secretly intervene in the lives of neighbors and coworkers, helping some find romance, others retribution for past wrongs. When her “missions” bring her into contact with a quirky local (Kassovitz), she begins a roundabout courtship involving a treasure hunt instead of approaching him directly. Director Jeunet leaves intact his stunning, and very stylized visual talents, but marshals them in service of a fresh, lighthearted comedy, in contrast to his previous, downcast work. Tautout has no problem carrying the movie and has the look of a budding major star. 120m/C VHS, DVD . FR GE Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Yolande Moreau, Dominique Pinon, Maurice Benichou, Artus de Penguern, Urbain Cancellier, Isabelle Nanty, Claire Maurier, Claude Perron, Clothilde Mollet, Serge Merlin, Jamel Debbouze, Flora Guiet; D: Jean-Pierre Jeunet; W: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillaume Laurant; C: Bruno Delbonnel; M: Yann Tiersen; Nar: Andre Dussollier. British Acad. '01: Orig. Screenplay; Cesar '01: Art Dir./Set Dec., Director (Jeunet), Film, Score; Broadcast Film Critics '01: Foreign Film.