Director: Anne Fontaine
Starring: Emmanuelle Béart, Fanny Ardant, Gérard Depardieu

- Reviewed by Vickie

See, here’s the thing: I would have liked this movie so much more if director Anne Fontaine had followed through on some (okay, just one) of the possibilities she seems to present in this odd and twisty revenge (?) drama.

Catherine (Fanny Ardant) is a middle-aged wife whose husband, Bernard (Gérard Depardieu) is a little less than faithful. Determined to somehow beat him at his own game and learn about the nature of his extracurricular dalliances, she wanders into a strip club/brothel and propositions one of the, ahem, ladies in waiting (Emmanuelle Béart). The prostitute christens herself "Nathalie" and the two women begin plotting. Catherine wants Nathalie to seduce Bernard and then report back with all the details. I can’t remember if the *reasons* behind the gathering of this intel is ever explained, but Nathalie agrees nonetheless.

And so it begins. Nathalie and Catherine meet regularly for the information exchange, with Nathalie providing—in graphic detail—the ins and outs (so to speak) of her rendezvous with Bernard. But, when she tells Catherine that she’s sleeping with Bernard, Nathalie inadvertently alters the nature of the arrangement. Suddenly, Catherine’s all squirrelly, believing Nathalie has crossed some unspoken line.

Then things get even weirder, but I’ll leave that for you to see for yourselves.

My main problem with the film, which contained many aspects that I did like, is the nature of the relationship between Nathalie and Catherine. What the hell is going on?! Half the time, the film feels like it’s going to turn into a romance between the two women, as they share longing glances and near-kisses time and time again. The sexual tension between them is palpable! Yet, the rest of the time they appear to be building some kind of mother-daughter, nurturing friendship. And then, every now and again, it's all cold, sterile business. It bounces back and forth and is never really clear. I didn’t care at all about either woman’s relationship with Bernard, by the way. As far as I was concerned, he was just an oafy cheater who didn’t deserve either one.

I blame Fontaine for the confusion, which she explained away at a Q&A as having created an "ambivalent" film. I think maybe she meant "ambiguous," because it was most certainly that. I also blame Béart and Ardant for their excrutiatingly steamy chemistry. Geez, ladies, dial it down a bit if you're not going to give the audience a payoff! ;-) I don’t know if they intended it, if they were instructed to play their roles that way, or if it’s just some kind of freaky French thing, but I wanted *them* to wind up together. Both women are strong, and Béart possesses an inherent sexiness that radiates off the screen, but I could have done with one less shot of Fanny Ardant looking at something (a person, a place, off into space), looking away for a beat, and then looking back. Fontaine must have repeated that shot at least a half-dozen times.

At any rate, despite its seemingly indecisive vibe, I enjoyed Nathalie.... It left me frustrated and confounded and confused, but still sitting on the "yeah, I liked it" side of the fence.

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