Amélie - R\nStarring: Audrey Tatou\nDirected by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet\nShowing: Showplace East 11\nSkipping stones, cracking the crust of a crème brulée with the back of a spoon and sinking her hand into a sack of dry grain. It is the moment the narrator describes Amélie's likes and dislikes that the audience becomes mesmerized by her. It's the warm smile that appears on her face throughout the movie that really shows just how much she enjoys life. But, the audience discovers, she enjoys it from a distance. \nAfter the untimely death of her mother when she was young, Amélie retreats and becomes cautious around others. She makes no bonds or friendships, preferring to observe people from a distance. Then one day in her apartment she stumbles across a box of boyhood treasures left by a previous tenant. Amélie is determined to return it to the owner who left the box 40 years before. She decides that if this good deed is a success, she will continue helping others. \nThe act is a success and she is determined to help the good and reform the evil. These selfless acts continue and culminate when Amélie finds someone as quirky as she is to help. Amélie collects good deeds, and he, Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), collects discarded pictures from instant photo booths. His book of photos is left behind and Amélie comes up with elaborate schemes to return the book, none of which include meeting face to face. It takes a push from a friend to force Amélie to take a real risk to connect with someone. \nIt's not often one finds a character that is as purely good as the title character in "Amélie." A self professed do-gooder, she interferes with people's lives only to help them. The movie's characters are either good or evil, never in between, making it easy for the audience to fall in love with them and Amélie's simple goodness.\nAudrey Tautou captures Amélie perfectly with her bright eyes and her naïve, optimistic attitude toward life. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("The City of Lost Children") leaves the audience smiling and wishing for more of a glimpse into the peculiar world that belongs to Amélie.\n
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