The Housekeeper

Middle-aged Parisian Jacques (Jean-Pierre Bacri) is a successful, balding jazz recording studio engineer. His wife has left him for another man, and he is in need of a housekeeper. He hires a young woman (Emilie Dequenne) with a pretty smile and no experience who thinks she will like the job because she likes it “when other people’s houses are clean.” This older man-younger woman relationship escalates into a love affair when she is kicked out of the apartment she shares with a boyfriend and conveniently moves into her place of work. The story line is pretty basic as the two discover the full ramification of the generation gap that separates them, but the acting and characters keep the film interesting. Written and directed with a subtle hand by Claude Berri.