My Wife Is an Actress (2001)

65% of critics liked it
(72 reviews)
65% of users liked it
(3,050 ratings)

Actor Yvan Attal follows up on his 1997 directorial debut of I've Got a Woman with this wry romantic comedy about a regular guy dealing with his wife's fame and career. Yvan (Attal) is a youngish sports writer who, through some improbable luck, finds himself happily married to the beautiful… More Actor Yvan Attal follows up on his 1997 directorial debut of I've Got a Woman with this wry romantic comedy about a regular guy dealing with his wife's fame and career. Yvan (Attal) is a youngish sports writer who, through some improbable luck, finds himself happily married to the beautiful Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a fantastically popular movie actress. All is going swimmingly for Yvan until a stranger plants the seeds of jealousy and doubt in his mind over his wife and her libertine profession. Meanwhile, Charlotte is in London, starring in a movie with a very seductive and sophisticated Terence Stamp. Soon misunderstandings pile upon misunderstanding until Yvan's marriage is on the verge of collapse. Can he keep his marriage together? This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Yvan Attal
Written By: Yvan Attal
Genres: Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Jul 12, 2002 Limited
On DVD: Dec 10, 2002
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

Sid Adilman, Toronto Star
Attal pushes too hard to make this a comedy or serious drama. He seems to want both, but succeeds in making neither.
Ray Conlogue, Globe and Mail
I found it slow, predictable and not very amusing.
Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
My Wife Is an Actress is an utterly charming French comedy that feels so American in sensibility and style it's virtually its own Hollywood remake.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
The film's as witty as any subtitled movie has a right to be.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
It's Othello Lite -- minus that bit at the end about murder-suicide, but with every ounce of Shakespeare's insane emotion.
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
Little more than a frothy vanity project.
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide
Both Yvan Attal and Charlotte Gainsborough are thoroughly appealing, as their unblinking honesty and openness shines through even the film's silliest bits.
Josef Braun, Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
Attal's hang-ups surrounding infidelity are so old-fashioned and, dare I say, outdated, it's a wonder that he couldn't have brought something fresher to the proceedings simply by accident.
Tim Merrill, Film Threat
Never less than clever and often digs down into some uncomfortable realities about the strange lives of that odd species known as 'movie people.'
Jason Anderson, eye WEEKLY
God help the poor woman if Attal is this insecure in real life: his fictional Yvan's neuroses are aggravating enough to exhaust the patience of even the most understanding spouse.
Christopher Smith, Bangor Daily News (Maine)
"My Wife is an Actress" blends elements of fiction and reality, shakes them up and hopes for the best.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
It's the kind of movie that ends up festooning U.S. art house screens for no reason other than the fact that it's in French (well, mostly) with English subtitles and is magically 'significant' because of that.
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
Starts off witty and sophisticated and you want to love it -- but filmmaker Yvan Attal quickly writes himself into a corner.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Not only is this material slight, it also seems ridiculously padded.
Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune
A funny valentine to show business and marriage, an inside joke that plays humorously for anybody to grasp.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jim H

The marriage between a successful actress and a sportswriter suffers as a result of jealousy, distance, and the nature of her profession. After watching this film, you shouldn't wonder why relationships in Hollywood last as long as milk on a hot day. Yvan Attal's deft,… More
The marriage between a successful actress and a sportswriter suffers as a result of jealousy, distance, and the nature of her profession. After watching this film, you shouldn't wonder why relationships in Hollywood last as long as milk on a hot day. Yvan Attal's deft, comic story-telling renders all the awkwardness a man might feel while watching his wife naked on screen. And the scene in which he surprises her on set only to find the entire cast and crew naked is truly hilarious. I'm glad that the film stopped at sexual jealousy and didn't suggest that Yvan was emasculated because his wife's success eclipsed his own. Such a plot would have been cliche and reduced Yvan's character to nothing more than a typically insecure male. Terence Stamp is perfectly cast as the cad co-star who crosses the line between creating "on-screen chemistry" and seducing another man's wife. His lecherous looks make him dangerously charming, and there is the right amount of self-aggrandizing to make his character worthy of comic ridicule. I was fully prepared to go as high as four stars until the end. I don't know what Attal was thinking, but the story never resolved. We never know what motivates this couple's decision, and as a result, it's difficult to determine what exactly Attal is saying about these characters or the business of filmmaking. Overall, though, <i>My Wife Is an Actress</i> provides some brilliant moments and is filled with charming performances.