Available on Netflix
Cast: large, alcohol units lots. cigarettes not as many as you’d think
As you’ve probably already noticed, Netflix has been quite successful with its worldwide original programming, with its catalogue now bursting with dramas that have been made specifically for Netflix in countries around the world ranging from Mexico to Australia, South Korea to Canada, Germany to South Africa (as of this morning). However, despite being fair packed full of French shows that it’s bought up from the local networks Canal+, M6, TF1, France 2 and the like, there’s so far only been one genuine Netflix French original – Marseille, which didn’t exactly wow the world on the general grounds it was terrible, despite the presence of Gérard Depardieu.
Now we have a second French Netflix original, which Netflix is desperately trying to bill as “not a romcom” – or at least a “romantic comedy as it would happen in real life”. Despite its being an obvious fictional romcom.
Look at how hard they’re trying, both in English…
… and in French:
Isn’t it cute?
At least the English name for the show is a bit more convincing on that score.
Plan cœur (The Hookup Plan)
Plan cœur – which is probably best translated as ‘plan of the heart’ rather than The Hookup Plan, although there is the obvious double reference to the Sacré-Cœur of the show’s Parisian location and a possible pun on ‘plein cœur’ (full heart)* – sees the Bridget Jones-esque Zita Hanrot (Chefs) playing a down-on-her luck civil servant. She still can’t get over her ex, Guillaume Labbé (Hotel de la plage), despite their having broken up two years previously and his being on the verge of getting remarried. She’s also has been forced to move back into her old room at her father’s house, which is somewhat awkward since he’s a doctor and it’s now his waiting room.
In an effort to get Hanrot’s mind off Labbé, one of her BFFs, Sabrina Ouazani (Les Vivants et les Morts) decides to hire a male escort (Le Chalet‘s Marc Ruchmann) for her. Except she doesn’t tell her he’s an escort and instead gives Ruchmann all the inside information he needs to help woo her and make her feel generally lovable again.
What could possibly go wrong, hey, particularly once other BFF Joséphine Draï (L’Art du crime, Nu) finds out what’s going on?
Continue reading “Third-episode verdict: Plan cœur (The Hookup Plan) (Netflix)”
