Entertainment

A sweet 12 steps to love for chocoholics

An adorable, quirky chocolatier looking for love? One guess which country this heavily whimsical comedy hails from. Still, there are genuine Gallic charms to be found in Jean-Pierre Améris’ lighthearted tale of Angélique (Isabelle Carré), who attends the titular self-help group for individuals who are overly “emotional,” as the subtitles awkwardly put it. A masterful chocolate maker, she’s so shy she can’t take credit for her work — let alone go on dates.

Angélique takes a sales rep job at a third-rate chocolate company run by the equally neurotic Jean-René (Benoit Poelvoorde), who wants to romance Angélique but flop-sweats so often he has to carry extra dress shirts in his briefcase. Of course these two are made for each other, but it takes a joint mission to save the company for them to see life is, as it were, sweet.

At its best, “Romantics Anonymous” is a love letter to everyone who’s ever felt hopelessly awkward about being in a relationship, which is just about all of us.

Running time: 80 minutes. In French, with English subtitles. Not rated (nothing offensive). At the Quad, West 13th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues.