Cédric Klapisch's Chinese Puzzle reunites friends from earlier films

Chinese Puzzle
Starring: Romain Duris, Cécile de France, Audrey TautuoKelly Reilly, Sandrine Holt
Director: Cédric Klapisch
Category: IIB (French, English and Putonghua)
3.5 stars

Cinemagoers first met four of the characters in the entertaining Chinese Puzzle some 12 years ago in L'Auberge Espagnole.

That ensemble comedy-drama told of a French university student sharing an apartment in Barcelona with six others from various parts of Europe. The flatmates reunited three years later in Russian Dolls, for a wedding in St Petersburg.

But because so much time has passed since the release of these two films, which revolved around the likeable Xavier Rousseau (Romain Duris) and his friends, Chinese Puzzle works surprisingly well as a stand-alone offering. It's helped by the fact the film is largely set a continent away from the earlier productions.

Approaching his 40th year in this latest film, Xavier is now a father of two and a published author. Not all is well in his world, as he's struggling to write his latest novel (also titled Chinese Puzzle — because it is all about how complicated life is).

Worse, his marriage to Briton Wendy (Kelly Reilly) has broken down because he donated his sperm to his lesbian best friend Isabelle (Cécile de France) so that she and her Chinese-American partner Ju (Sandrine Holt) could have a baby.

After Wendy takes their two children to live with her new American beau in New York, Xavier elects to follow so he can be near the little ones.