Die Frau meines Lebens

A very French, but much-too-slight tale of a classical violinist drunkard sobering up and joining Alcoholics Anonymous.

It's well done in most departments, but feels cold, abstract and distant from real life: the characters never worry about money or food or a place to live; they stay in lavish hotels and go sailing on yachts to dry out.

It's the kind of film that the French made in their sleep throughout the 1980s, and it's perfectly watchable; it just doesn't really add up to anything memorable or affecting. Jane Birkin does what she can but seems lost in a murky script, and the "love story" between her and the lead character is lifeless and unconvincing. The best acting comes from by Jean-Louis Trintignant, but none of his character's motivations or reactions are made any more clear than any of the others.