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Une Femme ou Deux

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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

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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

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

Production

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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

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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

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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

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  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.
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