"POTICHE"
("Trophy Wife," 2010, in French with subtitles)...C ...
French director Francois Ozon adapted the script for this 2010 movie from a 1970s play authored by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre
Grédy, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to reach that far back into the dusty vaults to pull out this hoary old chestnut.
The entire film is like being in a time warp where things are so... Well, like, you know, so Seventies. There are a few moments
of fun, but the hilarity is drowned out by a plot which is preposterously dated with each character doomed to portray a single
dimensional cardboard cutout of a personality.
Needless
to say, the movie serves mainly to showcase the talents and still considerable beauty of the iconic French actress, Catherine
Deneuve. She looks like she is having a ball in this comedic farce which is as light and fluffy (and forgettable) as a piece
of delectable French pastry. The film's title roughly translates as "Trophy Wife," although the meaning is different than
what defines that term today. Then it implied a husband who made enough money that his spouse could stay at home with little
to do but to keep herself attractive and frivolous for when he walked in the door, if he came home at all. It doesn't at all
imply her being a second wife, usually a much younger specimen of eye candy or a fellow corporate executive like we define
the term today.
Sadly,
this interpretation is not the only thing that is dated about this movie. There is the well tended wife, Suzanne Pujol (Catherine
Deneuve) who is thought by her husband to be a dimwitted haus frau, but she rises to the occasion when duty calls to run "his"
umbrella company (which he happens to have inherited from her father). Her husband, Robert Pujol (Fabrice Luchini), turns
out to have every flaw in the book as an unrepentant male chauvinist pig as well as being the kind of boss who refuses to
grant a single demand by his unionized workers, no matter how reasonable. Their two well tended children include a right wing
student and a left wing artist for good measure and balance.
One
of the few delights in this movie turns out to be Robert's greatly put upon executive "assistant," Nadége (the very lovely
Karin Viard), who finds her new boss to be both personally and professionally liberating.
The
workers all happen to be communists, including the local deputy, Maurice Babin (Gérard Depardieu), who hate the bourgeoisie
capitalist pigs overlords. It conveniently turns out that Suzanne had once had a brief fling with Babin when they were both
much younger. The only surprise in this movie is when Babin turns out to be as much of an inconsiderate pig as Suzanne's husband.
This film strikes me as being on the level of a made for television movie which should have stayed back home. 103 minutes
and rated R (Should be PG-13) for some sexuality.
