Service Entrance (Les Femmes du 6eme etage)

The French seem to be rather fond of the upstairs-downstairs dynamic. As Jean Renoir showed us in 1939 with his classic "La Regle du jeu," one of the many rules of The Game is that the upstairs and downstairs don't mix. Director Phillippe Le Guay decides to revisit and challenge this idea with his 2010 comedy "Service Entrance."

The film revolves around Jean-Louis Joubert, a conservative stockbroker, and his growing and confusing infatuation with newly hired Spanish maid, Maria Gonzalez. What follows is a formulaic yet pleasant romp involving a few gags, some awkward moments of sexual tension, pretty sharp dialogue, and plenty of paella. Ultimately Maria transforms Jean-Louis, showing him the man he was born to be, liberating him from his uptight wife and career. I was quite unhappy with the film's end. If only Jean-Louis had refrained from hunting down Maria after those three years, I would have been able to accept "Service Entrance" as a serious film that parallels real life. Instead, Le Guay brought us a selfish, generic ending, thereby leaving a bitter taste in my mouth as I left the Egyptian Theater.