Adapted from the eponymous novel by Mathias Malzieu, A Mermaid in Paris plunges the viewer back into a fantasized Paris with a retro style, making him travel in time and space by his story speckled with fantasy. With Nicolas Duvauchelle in the role of the heartbroken crooner, and Marilyn Lima (revealed by the series Skam France) in that of the mermaid, the film started off on the right foot. However, despite the dreamlike setting he manages to recreate and perfectly reconstructed sets, the magic does not work.
A mermaid in Paris: a captivating and intriguing start
In Paris, Gaspard is a crooner at the Flowerburger, the family cabaret with a Roaring Twenties atmosphere. One evening, as he is about to return home, he finds a mermaid stranded on the banks of the Seine. He then decides to take her to the hospital, but understanding that they can do nothing for her, Gaspard takes her home. He puts her in his bathtub, treats her and gets to know this singular creature, named Lula. The latter then summons him to put her back in the water before sunrise: indeed, the men who cross her fall madly in love with her, so that they end up dying. Only Gaspard coming out of a painful breakup, has promised himself never to fall in love again and thinks he is insensitive to his charm. One night, two nights, three nights pass and Lula is still not back in the water: a rather special relationship, similar to the premises of a romance then begins. 
It's a rather promising start to the film: Lula with a captivating look and a mysterious past manages to capture our attention. She is a distant, untalkative mermaid who gradually manages to open up, to discover Parisian life, and to experience a diversity of feelings that previously seemed inaccessible to her. Gaspard, for his part, appears from the beginning obsessed with Lula although he is not aware of it. He is very attentive to her, makes every effort to protect her from the outside, letting his feelings gradually grow in him. He is regularly helped by his neighbor Rossy played by the sparkling Rossy de Palma who appears out of step with these two characters to better spice up the scenario.
A pace that is crumbling, questions that remain unanswered
Where does it come from? Why did it fail in Paris? Why does his singing, bewitching all men, initially have no effect on Gaspard while the latter gradually falls in love? Questions too little addressed, insufficiently dug and which would have allowed the spectator to find his way in this increasingly far-fetched staging. Lula intrigues us at the beginning of the film, evolves, but fails to move us. The dialogues without depth, tinged with stupidity establish the portrait of a mermaid potiche, passively waiting in her bathtub for Gaspard to struggle for her, or for Rossy to come to her aid. The twists and turns end up being predictable despite the poetry that surrounds the characters and their actions. Gradually a semblance of routine sets in that contrasts with the dynamism and impromptu of the first scenes. Only Rossy de Palma, true to herself, manages throughout the film to enchant us by bringing that touch of fantasy and lightness that we would have liked to see in the two main characters. By its extravagance it amuses and surprises us allowing us to give life to this fantastic story that leaves us perplexed. 
A mermaid in Paris had all the ingredients to convince us: a rich cast, excellent sets, a singular story in a fantastic and retro atmosphere. However, the distribution of roles is disappointing, especially that of the mermaid who embodies a passive female character waiting for the saving action of her prince charming. The end of the film seems sloppy, we gradually get bored in front of a romance to which we cling less and less. If for Gaspard "love is like joy, it stings, it stings very hard", he has in any case not managed to sting us in the heart.
