I couldn’t resist the temptation to watch a film that brings together such a formidable cast—Gérard Depardieu, Sandrine Kiberlain, and Adriana Ugarte, alongside Daniel Auteuil, who also directs. The screenplay is penned by the successful French playwright and screenwriter Florian Zeller; he adapted it from a stage play—also directed by and starring Auteuil in Paris (with a different cast)—retitling it ‘Amoureux de ma femme‘. For a change, I found the English release title—’The Other Woman‘—more inspired; the 2018 film constructs a vaudevillian comedy around the male obsession—specifically among married men—with beautiful and, ideally, much younger women. Auteuil was nearing 70 when he made the film, yet he played a man of about 50. Obsessions know no age, the film seems to tell us—at least in one’s imagination.
Daniel (the film’s protagonist shares his name) is a publisher living in Paris with his wife, Isabelle. He runs into his good friend Patrick by chance; Patrick insistently invites himself over for dinner to introduce his new girlfriend, Emma. The problem is that Isabelle dislikes Patrick, who had left her best friend for this younger woman. Emma, however, fascinates Daniel the moment she steps into the couple’s apartment. All the ingredients for a disastrous evening are in place.
Screenwriter Florian Zeller and director-actor Daniel Auteuil employ a technique reminiscent of Woody Allen’s films, blending the reality of the two couples’ meeting with the fantasies triggered in Daniel’s imagination by the presence of the beautiful young woman. Viewers will have fun trying to distinguish, in each scene, between actual events and the fantasies (or nightmares) of a man who has fallen for his friend’s beautiful young partner. The result is a blend of French boulevard comedy and the kind of narcissistic, misogynistic self-deprecation typical of Allen. Yet, to my mind, this is also where the film’s main problem lies: the imbalance between Daniel and the other characters is not compensated for by sufficient boldness in the dialogue or situations. The moralizing ending doesn’t help matters, either. Consequently, Daniel Auteuil’s role dominates the entire film (and the actor is, as always, superb), while his distinguished co-stars each leave the impression that they deserved more substantial roles. Paradoxically, I found the first part—the “apartment-based theater” segment—more cinematically successful than the second. ‘Amoureux de ma femme‘ offers pleasant entertainment and a chance to reconnect with actors whose films you wouldn’t want to miss. Like a lighthearted evening at the theater in Paris. Nothing more, but nothing less.