Happily Ever After (2005)

Though to all appearances happily married parents, Vincent and Gabrielle (Attal and Gainsbourg) both harbor secret doubts about their monogamy. Despairing of the cynicism of his hen-pecked married co-worker George (Alain Chabat), and envious of the joie de vivre of his swinging single friend Fred (Alain Cohen), Vincent weighs the risks involved in both keeping himself satisfied and his marriage intact. Sensitive but independent Gabrielle, in turn, feels helpless over her partner's increasing evasiveness and is drawn in to her own burgeoning fantasy life. But when she makes a surprising and powerful connection with a handsome stranger in a record store ("Yes... that's Johnny Depp!" - Paul Sherman, Boston Herald), Gabrielle stops speculating about Vincent's loyalty and begins to consider an affair of her own.

Happily Ever After's able cast features Emmanuelle Seigner (Bitter Moon) and memorable cameos by Anouk Aimee (A Man and a Woman) and director Claude Berri. Balancing realistic characters with bravura widescreen camerawork, and enlivened by a playful and smart pop soundtrack, Happily Ever After gives exuberant new life to the age old dilemmas surrounding love, marriage, and fidelity.
 


Editor's Note

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. Meanwhile, other couples in midlife explore similar predicaments.