Crustacés et coquillages (2005) ***1/2

French with English subtitles. Directed by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau (co-directors)

Marc and Béatrix arrive with their daughter Laura and teenage son Charly at the seaside house where Marc spent his summers as a youth. The lazy summer atmosphere and aphrodisiacal crustaceans ("violets") seem to arouse everyone's appetite. Soon, Laura takes off for Portugal with her biker boyfriend and Charly's gay friend, Martin, shows up for a visit, followed by Béatrix' secret lover, Mathieu and eventually Marc's former lover. In addition to confusion about Charly's sexuality, everyone seems to be involved with someone else. The movie is whimsical and upbeat, but requires a tolerant attitude toward sexuality and orientation. I imagine all French families to be exactly like this one, but I'm sure that's a fantasy.