La petite amie

This is the kind of story which could be performed on stage ,as part of the famous series "Au Théâtre Ce Soir" ,a vaudeville,the ending of which is thoroughly predictable.Nevertheless, filming (partly) on location in a winter sports resort allows the cast to combine business with pleasure.

Luc Beraud is certainly a good screenwriter whose collaboration with Claude Béraud (notably "La Meilleure Façon De Marcher" ,1976)has produced memorable works;as a director ,and with a cheesy story ,he does not deliver the goods;all the clichés of the light(so to speak) comedy are here: the aging husband (Poiret) ,the young mistress ,the not-very-handsome town planner (Villeret ,who generally serves as a foil to his fellow actors),the friend of Dorothy (who makes his coming out at midnight on New Year's Eve),the mayor (who enjoys disasters?),and the (still attractive) wife who steals a line and a title from Billy Wilder ("kiss me,stupid").

Jean Poiret and Jacques Villeret were certainly very talented actors who could shine when they were given decent material to work with;their presence is the only reason why you would like to watch that.