Happily Ever After - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution movie review

Even in France, it isn't always 'Happily Ever After'

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

At the very least, the French film "Happily Ever After" offers a tiny dose of Johnny Depp for those of us counting the days until July 15 and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

He appears in an unbilled cameo as a sexy stranger who encounters one of the characters, Gabrielle (Charlotte Gainsbourg), in a Virgin Megastore in Paris. What follows is a sublime quick-sketch sexual fantasy as the pair hook up headphones to hear the same song — a not-quite-encounter that resonates meaningfully later in the film.

Kino International

'Happily Ever After'

B-

The verdict: This smart, literate French film can be uneven, but its take on the ups and down and ins and outs of marriage is worth considering.

Director: Yvan Attal
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Yvan Attal, Alain Chabat, Emmanuelle Seigner, Alain Cohen
Run time: 100 minutes
Release date: April 8, 2005
Rating: Not Rated

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"Happily Ever After" is directed by Yvan Attal, Gainsbourg's real-life husband. He also plays her husband, Vincent, in the picture, a slightly Woody Allen-esque take on the various couplings and uncouplings of a trio of middle-aged Frenchmen. Like Vincent, Georges (Alain Chabat) is married — to Nathalie (Emmanuelle Seigner), a hilariously vigilant feminist who insists they buy non-gender-specific toys for their little boy. So they bring home a toy vacuum cleaner which, in a nice kicker, the child adores.

Both men envy their single friend, Fred (Alain Cohen), an unremarkable-looking guy who, remarkably, has beautiful women throwing themselves at him. Sometimes several on the same evening. But he means it when he says the downside is having coffee alone every morning and never being certain with whom you'll have dinner.

Of the three, Vincent seems to have it best: a lovely wife, an adorable son, a gorgeous apartment, a plush job selling posh cars that he can drive whenever he likes. Conversely, Georges comes off as mistress-ready (the irony being, his wife is more gorgeous than any of the women he sees Fred with).

But as with all marriages, nothing is exactly as it seems.

On the surface, Attal seems to be exploring adultery — who does it and why, who doesn't do it and why. But you can't examine cheating in a marriage without examining marriage itself — the mystery of commitment and why some people manage it better than others.

"Happily Ever After" is never as insightful or as funny as Woody at his best. But the film has a fine-tuned approach to human behavior, whether it's an all-out food fight that, while high-spirited, masks deeper marital problems, or a long-married couple (Gallic treasures Anouk Aimee and Claude Berri) sitting in silence over a lovely dinner.

On the whole, the film is uneven. Some scenes lack a payoff, just trailing off without telling us much, and the tonal shifts aren't always smooth.

By the end, everything is sorted out, sort of. Attal may not believe in fairy tale endings, but he certainly believes in Shakespearean ones. One final scene is right out of "The Taming of the Shrew," and it's to the movie's credit that we're not sure whether its meant ironically or wistfully.