It’s rare when I review a foreign film, but this time I had to make an exception. Besides, very little is being released this time of year, so why not?

Last week, I took a look at “Black Hawk Down”, a bloody guy’s movie. This time I’ll tell you about a pretty good date movie. “Amelie” is a French girl who, like most of us, grew up in a dysfunctional home. No, her parents didn’t beat her or even yell at her. They were just weird. Her Dad is a doctor. He’s very busy and spends little time around Amelie. Because of this, when he gives her a physical every now and then, her heart speeds up and he thinks she’s got coronary problems. In truth, Amelie is just excited to be around him. Mom is a teacher but is also kind of out of touch. She ends up home schooling Amelie, and then treats her too much like a student and not a daughter. Amelie then retreats into a world based on her own imagination.

So does she end up in a mental institution? If this was an American made movie, she probably would. But instead she devotes her life to making others happy. It starts one day when she finds a boy’s play things he had hidden away in a secret hiding place forty years ago. Does she just find him and hand the things over? Nah – that would be too easy. Remember, Amelie is a little weird too. The fun of this movie is watching all the creative ways she comes up with to give these people their happy moments without revealing herself to them.

That all gets really complicated when Amelie comes upon a guy who is as strange as she is. She finds him obsessing over torn up pictures left outside one of those little photo booths you see at bus and train stations and shopping malls. The attraction is instant, but both are shy and weird, so this is going to take some time.

I’m a people watcher because I often find that amusing, but this movie takes it all to a new level. Amelie likes to sit in the front row of movie theatres and watch people’s faces glowing in the dark. She picks up on many of the little things we all ignore. There is a lot of narrative in this movie, but one part I did enjoy was the list of some of the movie’s characters likes and dislikes. This is a movie you smile along with. You don’t fall over laughing because it comes at you slowly.

The whole thing is a fairy tale, from her strange behavior to her strange neighbors to the incredible stunts she pulls off to make people happy. But for a cynical guy like me to fall for it, it has to be something special. I can even forgive the “Ally McBeal”’ moments. A few times they pull off an imaginary on-screen moment that plays like a cartoon. Such as when Amelie literally melts away when her dream boy leaves her presence. Must be a new trick in France. Been there, done that.

But overall, and I hate to put it this way, “Amelie” is a “heart warming, magical reaffirmation of life!”. A “charming tour-de-force!”. How about a “lyrical, mystical, merry-go-round of fun”. Sorry, but I think of those things, you know. I just would rather spare you the misery. “Amelie” is very creative and very different. I liked it very much. Boy, that sounds like a bland review line. I give it an “8.0”