Hollywood may have invented the romantic comedy, but the French made it distinctly their own in a Gallic genre that mixes farce with contrived charm and a healthy dose of bittersweet. Veteran screenwriter Danièle Thompson (her credits include the popular 1975 comic romance Cousin cousine) directs from her own script, a pleasant two-character roundelay that takes place mostly within the confines of Paris’s De Gaulle Airport.

Juliette Binoche, playing off her natural beauty and displaying a gift for physical comedy, does a funny/sad clown act as Rose, an insecure beautician who hides behind a mask of make-up. Her partner in this comic pas de deux is Jean Reno, shelving his American action-film persona to become scruffy, neurotic Felix, a celebrity chef whose booming frozen-food business is a metaphor for the emotions he keeps on ice. It’s the usual clash-and-attraction of opposites, but the two stars have both chemistry and charisma, and Thompson moves the action neatly from the airport, where passengers are grounded during an abrupt transit strike, to a hotel room. The film, which has lesser American remake written all over it, offers no surprises; it merely reminds us how fresh and lively the two-character romantic comedy can seem when it’s acted by a pair of pros. In French with English subtitles. (81 minutes)