Nowhere to Go But Up

Val (Audrey Tautou) is a penniless young French would-be actress, an irrepressible live wire adrift on the streets of Greenwich Village. She sleeps rough, outside a townhouse owned by Jack. A one-time Oscar-winning scriptwriter, Jack's muse - like his wife Beatrix - has deserted him. Impotent, blocked, Jack too is adrift. After a confrontation with Jack, Val faints from exhaustion, and he takes her in. When she wakes, they trade insults. As she storms out, it hits Jack: he's in love. Inspired, he starts writing again, a new script based on this enchanting French vagabond.Val moves in with Edna, a crazy, poetry-scribbling waitress who determines to manage her road to success. At a meeting with his long-suffering agent Irene and an eager studio executive, Jack holds off on signing a 7-figure deal. Irene drops him. In a coffee shop, Val argues furiously with Edna. She's sick of everything - poverty, hunger, endless auditions that come to nothing, and especially Edna and her lunatic schemes. Irene witnesses this very public argument. Bowled over by Val's naked emotive power, she gives her a copy of Jack's script... A year passes. Bitter and alone, Jack watches the Oscars on TV. (Wild Bunch Distribution)