The Women on the 6th Floor

2.00
    The Women on the 6th Floor
    2011

    Synopsis

    Paris, in the early 1960s. Jean-Louis Joubert is a serious but uptight stockbroker, married to Suzanne, a starchy class-conscious woman and father of two arrogant teenage boys, currently in a boarding school. The affluent man lives a steady yet boring life. At least until, due to fortuitous circumstances, Maria, the charming new maid at the service of Jean-Louis' family, makes him discover the servants' quarter on the sixth floor of the luxury building he owns and lives in. There live a crowd of lively Spanish maids who will help Jean-Louis to open to a new civilization and a new approach of life. In their company - and more precisely in the company of beautiful Maria - Jean-Louis will gradually become another man, a better man.

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      Cast

      • Fabrice LuchiniJean-Louis Joubert
      • Sandrine KiberlainSuzanne Joubert
      • Natalia VerbekeMaria
      • Carmen MauraConcepcion
      • Lola DueñasCarmen
      • Berta OjeaDolores
      • Nuria SoléTeresa
      • Concha GalánPilar
      • Marie-Armelle DeguyColette de Bergeret
      • Muriel SolvayNicole de Grandcourt

      Recommendations

      • 80

        Los Angeles Times

        The French have a knack for it. They've been making funny and agreeable movie farces for forever, and seeing The Women on the 6th Floor makes you hope they'll never stop.
      • 70

        Wall Street Journal

        Mr. Luchini has a touching way of opening up the repressed heroes he often plays, and Ms. Verbeke's droll manipulations - and genuine sweetness - are more than enough to justify the transformation that María and the other maids work on Jean-Louis's life.
      • 60

        The New York Times

        Lighter than a meringue and as insubstantial, the French boulevard comedy The Women on the 6th Floor was designed for the gentle laughter it easily earns.
      • 58

        The A.V. Club

        This comedy from writer-director Philippe Le Guay is really a testament to how much more charming things sound in French, given how much its setup parallels that of James L. Brooks' clunkier 2004 "Spanglish," complete with a blonde harpy of a spouse.
      • 50

        Slant Magazine

        It plays everything safe, keeping all its edges rounded and its lips sealed in territory ripe for sociopolitical commentary, making even The Help's glib depiction of African American servitude seem nearly honest.
      • 50

        New York Post

        Has a few things going for it -- a winning performance by Luchini and a small role by Pedro Almodóvar favorite Carmen Maura. But these talented folks can't compensate for a plot that strains credulity and lacks badly needed social bite. Wait for the DVD.
      • 40

        Time Out

        Other than giving Almodóvar regulars Carmen Maura and Lola Dueñas plum supporting roles, that's the best you can say about Philippe Le Guay's trite-to-intolerable tale on the discreet eye-opening of the bourgeoisie.
      • 40

        Village Voice

        All the words that follow assault the ear in this unnecessary rehashing of the earthy virtues of low-paid laborers versus the stiffness of the bourgeoisie.

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