Bob Nims' Blog

Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu appear in a rather contrived so-called farce that is really only an excuse for them to be on the screen together. She looks lovely as the titular “trophy wife”, but Depardieu is larger than Orson Welles became near the end of his career and so does not credibly fill the requirement of romantic lead. Casting is sort of a problem for several of the other roles and setting the film in the middle 1970s doesn’t really help with this story about a philandering husband getting his comeuppance from his wife (in business as well as romance). I’m pretty sure that the choice of an umbrella factory was made as a tribute to madame Deneuve (who appeared in the film Umbrellas of Cherburg), but that doesn’t add much luster to the tired clichés that try to pass for comedy. I usually enjoy French farce (1998s “The Dinner Game” was great), but this one misses the mark by much too far for me.