Happily Ever After (2005)
57 %
Reviews Counted: 40 Fresh: 23 Rotten:17 Average Rating: 6/10
Consensus:
Though this French film features good acting, it lacks the wit and charm one would expect to see.
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Box Office: $121,785
Synopsis: Yvan Attal writes, directs, and stars in this meditation on extra-marital affairs. When he and his wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) find they are both attracted to other people, even though they are happily married with a young son, their whole relationship comes under reconsideration.... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Yvan Attal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alain Chabat, Emmanuelle Seigner, Alain Cohen
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Comment
Attal taps into that unexpectedness -- the inability of just one person to captain the course of a relationship no matter how hard they try -- and he plays it for all it's worth.
09/08/05
Top Critic
There are a few quality moments, but this fairy tale is far from enchanting.
08/26/05
Whatever points screenwriter/director Attal is trying to make about relationship envy get lost as the marital conflicts become more contrived and shrill.
08/12/05
Attal doesn't illuminate Vincent's motives for straying, and unwisely suggests Vincent's philandering and Gabrielle's daydreaming are somehow morally equivalent.
08/12/05
In a world filled with empty lust and marital discord, Yvan Attal’s wistful comedy is about a guy who loves his wife.
07/29/05
Attal knows that no matter how adult we feel when we say, 'I do,' marriage is all child's play: jealousy, lies and pure, unconditional love. Perplexing, but not a bad option.
07/28/05
Top Critic
There's nothing much wrong with the film; my complaint is that there's nothing much right about it.
07/28/05
Top Critic
The story in the French Happily Ever After is about as exciting as that bland, mistranslated title. But the filmmaking? Very exciting.
07/14/05
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.
06/30/05
Top Critic
A sour, grating comedy-drama about fidelity and infidelity among the Parisian bourgeoisie...certainly won't send you home with a smile on your face.
06/20/05
Attal is creative in crafting cinematic mood, using focus and camera movements to subtly but deftly enhance and even anticipate emotions.
06/17/05
A meditation on the joys and frustrations of monogamy that manages to be a diverting and funny character study at least most of the time.
06/17/05
Top Critic
Whether any of them will live happily ever after is a question you're left pondering long after this challenging film comes to a close.
06/17/05
Top Critic
This is a fetching piece of work, both comical and savvy, and Gainsborough's brisk, forward intelligence rescues Gabrielle from snags of marital self-pity.
06/17/05
Top Critic
If this is director Attal's attempt to dive into the complex world of marriages, he barely swam past the shoreline.
06/16/05
Top Critic
A tremendously provocative date movie for couples brave enough to face each other afterward.
06/10/05
Top CriticRelated Forums
HAPPILY EVER AFTER reunites real-life spouses Yves Attal & Charlotte Gainsbourg!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/3/05
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/3/05
HAPPILY EVER AFTER reunites real-life spouses Yves Attal & Charlotte Gainsbourg!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/3/05
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/3/05
HAPPILY EVER AFTER reunites real-life spouses Yves Attal & Charlotte Gainsbourg!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/3/05
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/3/05
HAPPILY EVER AFTER reunites real-life spouses Yves Attal & Charlotte Gainsbourg!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/3/05
by: REEL_REVIEWER 11/3/05
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