`WHEN THE CAT'S AWAY' PUTS CHARACTER OVER PLOT.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Critic

If you're fed up to the hilt with your smoggy, overfamiliar L.A. environs and dreaming of an escape to Paris, but no way can you afford it, an agreeable French trifle called ``When the Cat's Away'' might be the movie for you.

Set in a lively inner-city neighborhood called La Bastille, where older residents mingle with trendy artists and struggling newcomers, the movie tells a slight, rambling story about a young gamine named Chloe (Garance Clavel) who loses her cat and organizes a search, during which she really gets to know her neighbors.

More an intimate portait of an urban area in flux than a travelogue tour of the eternal city, the movie presents the lived-in Paris of lofts, cafes and taverns you'd see if you were to visit a friend there who was a struggling painter or musician, or like Chloe, a makeup artist working in the fashion industry.

It's intriguing enough for a while, but its wisp of a story evaporates early on and segues into a portrait of Chloe's loneliness in a city that is supposedly romantic.

Originally conceived as a short film, it probably should have remained one, but writer-director Cedric Klapisch became so enamored of the characters he uncovered that he wanted to linger with them, and in slice-of-life fashion (read, low-key and rambling), he does.

Among the most charming is the elderly Madame Renee, who takes in cats and accidentally loses Chloe's while the makeup artist is on vacation. With her tiny, tough demeanor, hoarse voice and scarecrow hair, she's a real find - and she's actually a nonactress, playing herself. (When she misplaced a cat belonging to a friend of the filmmaker, that incident inspired the movie, and most of the older women who aid the search are Renee's real-life friends).

Klapisch, who filmed in a loose, improvisational style, has a great eye for both color and texture, and the movie's always a pleasure to look at, even when dialogue and incident are overly casual.

This kind of thing has its fans - it won the international critics' award at last year's Berlin Film Festival, and has become a hit in France and many European countries.

the facts

The film: ``When the Cat's Away'' (R; sex).

The stars: Garance Clavel, Zinedine Soualem, Renee La Calm, Oliver Py.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Cedric Klapisch. Produced by Aissa Djabri, Farid Lahouassa and Manuel Munz. Released by Sony Pictures Classics.

Running time: One hour, 35 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle's Town Center, Encino; Laemmle's Sunset 5, Hollywood; Goldwyn Pavilion Cinemas, West Los Angeles; Laemmle's Esquire in Pasadena.

Our rating: 2-1/2 stars

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Photo

Photo: Chloe (Garance Clavel) loses her cat and organizes a search, during which she gets to know her neighbors in ``When the Cat's Away.''