Too peculiar, but Audrey Tautou fans will have a decent time. Delicacy (French, in English subtitles) is a comedy that stops being funny following an early calamity. Then it becomes a poignant tale of a woman rebuilding herself following the loss of love. That woman, Nathalie, is played by Tautou (“Amelie”) and so the characteristics bashful, lonesome and self-possessed are among her qualities. She is going to become a workaholic in order to get through this phase, but it’s here where the movie feels for a few minutes that it has nowhere to go. Then one morning, in an act of unthinking stupor, she kisses the ugliest guy in the office. Markus (Francois Damiens, “Heartbreaker”) is a clumsy oaf of a man but he’s funny and endearing. Suddenly, we are pining for an unconventional romantic pairing.

Before this kiss, Markus was the male equivalent of a spinster. Lonely dinners, tuck self in bed, watch TV, fall asleep, go to work the next day. Suddenly, Markus is paid attention to at the office. His French colleagues are for the first time ever interested in his Swedish descent, and even name drop pop references like Stieg Larsson. But not everybody is thrilled with Markus’ unlikely star-crossed love affair. An angry boss, whose advances were rejected by Nathalie, is just one among several to light a fuse.

I liked enough of the movie despite its unevenness. Though it’s nowhere near her best, being a Tautou admirer helped me with my digestion. And Damiens has an irresistible puppyish sincerity. But a good comedy should leave you in high spirits. This one ends on an oddly solemn and melancholy chord.

108 Minutes. Unrated. French in English subtitles.

FOREIGN FILM / CHICK FLICK / SATURDAY NIGHT BLUES

Film Cousins: “Amelie” (2001, France); “Intimate Strangers” (2004, France); “Priceless” (2006, France); “She’s Out of My League” (2009).