Gemma Bovery (Gemma Arterton) and her older husband Charlie move from London to a small town in Normandy, France. Their new neighbor Martin Joubert (Fabrice Luchini) is the baker and a fan of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary. Martin is immediately enchanted by the lovely Gemma and her literary name. She gets restless and has an affair with a young man named Hervé de Bressigny. She is surprised by the return of her cheating former lover Patrick.Gemma Arterton enchants this movie. She is the heart of this. Fabrice Luchini is compelling as an obsessive fan without being too creepy. I am not as enchanted with the ending. It is trying to be poetic but it feels too manufactured. I was looking for the rat poison but I would love any number of ways to go. It needs to be more substantive. It needs to be Gemma's action. I was looking for Gemma to raise the stakes with her relationships. The ending is not the greatest but the movie will always have Gemma.

Negative: Forced to sit through five trailer adverts for other movies. Positives: Note the spelling difference in the name. Lots of British type humor bordering between a little shocking and funny. So what happens when a British couple end up living in the France of Flaubert and by coincidence they share many of the same attributes as well as a similarity in name to that famous novel? Add a next-door baker as a storyteller who is also infatuated with the mystique of women from those period novels. "Gemma Bovery" offers a contemporary interpretation that I found more interesting than other recent adaptations of the story especially with regards to manipulating men. "Wants everything from love and is always disappointed." When life doesn't match her fantasy one wonders if she would have changed or would she have eventually recidivated? Great endings as her men lead to her humorously ironic downfall and finally the introduction of a famously storied Russian woman.Surprising song (an odd fit) shows up in the movie and in the credits - "Jimmy" with no identifiable credit. Anyway, from a mongrel American/European blues/folk/rock team, "Moriarty".

Gemma Bovery (2014): Dir: Anne Fontaine / Cast: Gemma Arterton, Fabrice Luchini, Jason Flemyng, Niels Schneider, Mel Raido: Amusing French comedy that takes the classic Gustave Flaubert novel to new heights as observed by the central character, a baker in a small village, played with bewilderment by Fabrice Luchini. His wife is a nag and his son proves to be less than perfect, his attentions spans the farm across the street where a British couple move in. His sights are on the beautiful Gemma Arterton who nearly embodies the creation in the novel. Her husband is much older and frustrated with their lack of communication. Luchini is smitten and nears his infatuation until other suitors appear. Flawed by humour that doesn't always work, and a death scene in the third act that lacks the emotional payoff it needed. Otherwise director Anne Fontaine details a screenplay that balances reality and fantasy effectively. Luchini centres the plot focused on this new neighbour while narrowly working in baking bread and family. Arterton is stunning as Gemma and the camera fixates on her placing viewers in the lustful position of Luchini. Jason Flemyng plays the frustrated husband who doesn't take the news well when she has an affair. Niels Schneider plays a young suitor who steals Luchini's moment when he aids her when she is stung by a bee. They have a passionate affair where Luchini observes from afar in awe. Mel Raido plays an ex-boyfriend arriving back in town in hopes to rekindle their past relationship. Theme mixes literature with reality with a touch of the absurd for good measure. Score: 8 / 10

'Gemma Bovery' is a clever re-working of 'Madame Bovary', Flaubert's 19th century literary masterpiece about the amorous adventures of a provincial doctor's wife. This contemporary version begins with a bookish baker observing the arrival of a London couple in his Normandy town. He immediately becomes obsessed with the lovely Gemma, and starts seeing parallels to his favorite novel after he catches sight of her flirting with an aristocratic law student outside his shop. When the doughy merchant deduces the affairs of 'la belle Anglaise' are spiraling towards disaster, he attempts to save her from the sad fate of the fictional heroine, but his interference only increases the complications of her love life.Director Anne Fontaine's film is nicely balanced between comedy and drama, tending towards the latter, although the end product is closer to a fluffy confection than a heavyweight main course. Gemma Arterton's piquant performance in the lead role holds the film together, as her straying spouse remains a sympathetic character despite the infidelities. Their work is complemented by the entire cast - especially Fabrice Luchini who turns in a satisfyingly starchy portrayal of the busybody bread-maker - along with some luscious cinematography of the fertile French countryside and the mouth-watering Ms Arterton.