Une Femme ou Deux

Une Femme ou Deux
(One Woman or Two)
Directed byDaniel Vigne
Screenplay byDaniel Vigne
Élisabeth Rappeneau
Story byDaniel Vigne
Produced byRené Cleitman
Starring
CinematographyCarlo Varini
Edited byMarie-Josèphe Yoyotte
Music by
Production
company
Release date
  • 1985 (1985)
Running time
97 minutes[2]
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench (English subtitles)[3]
Budget30 million French francs
($3 million)[1]

Une Femme ou Deux (English: One Woman or Two) is a French screwball comedy romance film released in 1985. It was directed by Daniel Vigne [fr], who was also the screenwriter along with Élisabeth Rappeneau. It stars Gérard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.[4]

Plot

Shy paleontologist/archaeologist (Gérard Depardieu) makes an archeological find of the fossil remains of the first, two-million-year-old, French woman, whom he calls Laura.[5][6][7][8] He is approached and conned by a crass and greedy American model and Madison Avenue advertising executive (Sigourney Weaver), masquerading as a charity organisation executive in order to use the woman for her own perfume advertising campaign.[8][5]

Later the real charity organisation executive, ditzy rich American patroness of the sciences (Ruth Westheimer; Dr. Ruth, in her feature film debut) turns up ... it all develops from there.[9][10][11][2]

The movie is noted as a rework of the American 1938 classic screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.[12][13]

Cast

Sigourney Weaver and Dr. Ruth speak most of their dialogue in French.[14]

Production

The film was shot in France (much of it in Paris) and New York City.[1][15] French paleontologist Yves Coppens advised on the film.[16]

Release

It was released in the U.S. under the name One Woman or Two,[17] the literal English language translation of its French language title.

Reviews

Chicago Sun-Times reviewer Roger Ebert wrote of this film in a half star review, "Add it all up, and what you've got here is a waste of good electricity. I'm not talking about the electricity between the actors. I'm talking about the current to the projector."[17] In 2005 he included it on his most-hated films list.[18]

Richard Harrington writing for The Washington Post said: "it's funny enough, and genial in the way French comedy tends to be."[5]

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, writing for Spirituality & Practice, rated it 3 out of 5, saying the film "abounds in zany situations" and "offers plenty of chuckles."[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hachette Premiere On Rebound; Has 'Femme,' 'Billy' In Hopper". Variety. 1 May 1985. p. 340.
  2. ^ a b "Movies". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 23 February 1987 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Brief Movie Reviews". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 9 February 1987 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Films and Filming, Issues 411-423, 1989.
  5. ^ a b c Richard Harrington (March 2, 1987). "‘One Woman or Two’ (PG-13)", The Washington Post.
  6. ^ R.R. Bowker (1992). Bowker's Complete Video Directory, Volumes 1-4.
  7. ^ Steven H. Scheuer (1989). Movies on TV and Video Cassette; 1989-1990
  8. ^ a b Leonard Maltin (2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide
  9. ^ "Funny Business". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 15 September 1986 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ The Family Guide to Movies and Videos, Office for Film and Broadcasting, Department of Communications, United States Catholic Conference, 1995.
  11. ^ The Blockbuster Entertainment Guide to Movies and Videos, 1999 Edition.
  12. ^ Steven H. Scheuer (1990). Movies on TV and Videocassette, 1991-1992
  13. ^ Martin Connors, Jim Craddock (1999). VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 1999
  14. ^ Cox, Yvonne (23 February 1987). "People". Maclean's.
  15. ^ "My scene with Gerard Depardieu". stevelandis.com.
  16. ^ David Howard Day (1997). A Treasure Hard to Attain; Images of Archaeology in Popular Film, with a Filmography
  17. ^ a b Ebert, Roger (2 March 1987). "One Woman or Two". Chicago Sun-Times. rogerebert.com. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  18. ^ Ebert, Roger (11 August 2005). "Ebert's Most Hated". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Critic Reviews for One Woman or Two". Rotten Tomatoes.