(2003; French) Waiting with a houseful of guests with a surprise birthday celebration for her husband upon his expected arrival from a business trip to Zurich, Catherine (Fanny Ardant) receives a phone call from Bernard (Gérard Depardieu) that he will be delayed. The next day after his return she listens to the messages on his cellphone, one of which is a woman's voice complimenting him on "good sex."

Bernard and Catherine, a physician, have a son Thierry (whose girlfriend sleeps over one night); their own relationship has become stale. When Catherine confronts Bernard about his cheating on her, after initially denying it, he admits to occasional flings, dismissing them as meaningless.

She visits a private club where she meets Marléne (Emmanuelle Béart), a prostitute, whom she hires to tempt Bernard in order to extract revenge. Asked what turns him on, Catherine answers Marléne: "He'd like to be surprised, I suppose." Catherine gives Marléne the name Nathalie to use when with Bernard.

Marléne reports in detail on her contacts with Bernard, the second time going to a hotel room and having sex. This is not what she expected or wanted to happen, protests Catherine (so what did she think would happen?), though she returns to apologize to Marléne, asking her to continue seeing Bernard and providing explicit commentaries on each engagement.

Nathalie's descriptions of her erotic adventures with Bernard become increasingly imaginative and shameless; however, Catherine repeatedly insists that Bernard is a liar and insincere whenever Nathalie depicts him as otherwise.

Meanwhile, making herself somewhat mysterious, Catherine resists Bernard's renewed interest in her at home and in their bed. "Do you still love him?" asks Marléne. "I have no idea," Catherine replies, though her relationship with Marléne has captured her soul.

Director Anne Fontaine's film - from a screenplay by Jacques Fieschi, based on Philippe Blasband's concept, in which what we hear is far more titillating than what we see - never won me over to any of the characters (Catherine's expected result from her revenge remained at best murky); about half way through I guessed correctly the conceit behind all of the deceit.

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Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
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