E Viveram Felizes Para Sempre

This was a film that I'm not entirely sure I knew anything about. It was the next up on Johnny Depp's feature filmography, which my wife, Jaime, and I are working through. I was intrigued to see this starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, an actor I'm familiar with thanks to Lars von Trier. Other than that, I came into this one blind.

Now this is a dramedy. We have three male friends, Vincent (Yvan Attal), Georges (Alain Chabat) and Fred (Alain Cohen) who are all friends. Vincent is married to Gabrielle (Gainsbourg) and they have a son together. What is wild is that in real life they have a son, who plays this role in the movie. Georges is married to Nathalie (Emmanuelie Seigner) and they have a child. Fred is a bachelor who juggles multiple women.

We follow this group as we see that Vincent is having an affair. Gabrielle has her suspicions. This leads to an odd meeting with Depp's character. It also empowers her to go on vacation with her son and push to move to the country. We then see that love and marriage isn't easy. It also isn't cut and dry either as we go along a look into the lives of these people.

I'll then say that the acting here was good to bring everyone to life. It is interesting to see Gainsbourg in a role like this since it is different. I'm truly getting to see her range. I liked seeing Seigner here since I've seen her in a couple other things as well. No one is great. They do well in what is needed and it feels natural.

Then I will end out by saying this was well-made. Coming in, both Jaime and I were concerned about a 100-minute French movie. It came in fast and it took us about the first 15 minutes to settle in. Once we did though, we were entranced to see how everything would play out. The print we watched could use touching up but I won't fault it either. There is a bit of surrealness, especially with the ending. I did like how it leaves it up to us to interpret what we see. Strategically it is the Gabrielle character there. This won't be for everyone. I don't think it is great, but an interesting piece of borderline arthouse film.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

A very charming romantic drama. The cast and story are top notch. Although I have seen these actors in other films, they created such rich characters I felt that I was meeting them for the first time. Some of the film was hilarious, some was sad, some brought on some deja vu for the events many people can relate to in their own lives. Whatever the emotion of the scene, it all seemed quite realistic. I would recommend this to all audiences. I saw it in French with English subtitles. It seemed like everyone else in the theatre was as interested in the movie as I was too. It was a pretty hip contemporary story. The film ran for 105 minutes but I would have liked more - maybe Part II?

As a matter of comparison in some measure, one could point to certain Hollywood ensemble pieces of the past twenty years or so: dramas like 'Crash' or 'Noel' (both released in 2004), or comedies such as 'Love, actually' or 'Valentine's Day.' Of the many names in the cast, several should be very recognizable to viewers from most any locale (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Aurore Clément, Anouk Aimée, arguably Alain Chabat), while others have renown more limited to the continent. Despite the size of the cast, though, there's definitely one story thread that fills the bulk of the screenplay, made more unusual for the fact that the first half of the feature is decidedly rather loose and scattered in its storytelling, while the narrative tightens in the second half. (And for the fact of that tightening, the secondary threads - though they are brought to a conclusion more or less - nevertheless feel like they're treated even more poorly in the latter half.) Meanwhile, the strength of the writing (and the execution in turn) is highly variable through to the very end: some inclusions, as small as the use of music or as substantial as whole scenes, range from genuinely brilliant, to appropriate in a sideways fashion but ill-fitting as they present, to confusing or breaking from the timeline or tone of the picture. Alongside that variable writing, it also feels like 'Happily ever after' makes wild swings between comedy and drama, the former light and lovely at its best, and the latter giving us a few moments that inspire a quizzical "What?"

All this is to say that the movie is uneven, and not always entirely convincing. It's enjoyable more than not, and by no means do I think it's bad, but some ideas (again, even whole scenes) could have been dropped without losing anything, and others needed to be altered. Or is it that editor Jennifer Augé made some choices of sequencing that somewhat muddle the end result? It would be weird if Augé were partly responsible, because in a couple instances her editing directly plays into two of those sparks of ingenuity in Yvan Attal's screenplay. Regardless, in most ways this is well made, including commendable direction from filmmaker Attal. The cast give fine performances all around, from the chief stars (though Gainsbourg and Attal, and their then-seven year old son Ben, have an obvious familial advantage to their on-screen chemistry), to supporting players like Angie David or even those who appear in only one scene, like Clément. Rémy Chevrin's cinematography stands out a bit to me, in some moments more than others; the filming locations and production design are smartly paired. To whatever degree of success the supporting characters are woven into the overall narrative, the central thread is well considered and modestly compelling, and the scene writing in particular is pretty strong even if I disagree with some examples thereof. Both aspects of this comedy-drama are mixed, but splendidly satisfying at their best.

The end result of all this is less a singular discrete plot, and more a broad portrait of Romance and Relationships with story threads of varying size. I suppose what it comes down to is that this is passingly entertaining on its own merits if one happens to come across it, and it's suggested most for those who are especial fans of those involved. With or without consideration of its weaknesses, it's also nothing to go out of one's way to see; this is a feature built for light amusement, and not a night set aside. Maybe that's all it needs to be, for that matter; there's no rule that says every title needs to be an essential classic. Temper your expectations one way or another, but while 'Happily ever after' may not be a revelatory viewing experience, there are certainly worse ways to spend one's time.

There are other reviews on this site that discuss this movie's finer plot themes, etc. However I write this my first review because I felt so compelled by the look of this movie. This movie will truly delight eyes and ears and for sure worth its rental fee. There is one particular scene, a sort of transitional fade from flowering colors to the character, that is particularly beautiful. I went back to it again and again when the movie was over. The film is kind of an impressionist painting in which the characters come to life upon. A great and modern musical score adds to the film's vibrant look. Add a nice bottle of wine and dinner on the coffee table to make the best of your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

It has all the drama from the french big city life wrapped up with some outsiders that join in. I goes from mellow to full action and then back again. Very good an popular music from the early 21 century. I recommend watching with a friend. Mayby your latest flirt. Johnny plays a neat chap that satisfies the women mentaly. Some parts of the movie are just a drug daze but mostly its on for a good interaction between woman and man. Many wellcut scenes where you feel as you are in the movie. The secondary charachters are as fun as the main and give alot to the main plot. Many diffrent relations to keep up with.