For those who saw and loved L'Auberge Espagnole, Russian Dolls automatically becomes of interest, but writer-director Cedric Klapisch can't quite make the case for it as a stand-alone experience.

Klapisch has made something deliciously close to a nature documentary about the young, the foolish, and the alive.

It's an effortlessly charming ensemble, and Klapisch's characters (most of them anyway) reveal depths of feeling that compensate for the film's lightweight tone and too-long running time.

Anyone who loved L'Auberge Espagnole should at least like its sequel as something of a guilty fling.