Jean-Paul Rappeneau's extremely entertaining comedy stars Yves Montand as a disenchanted perfume executive who has his private island (and his ENTIRE life) invaded by flighty Catherine Denueve. She's escaping a pending marriage to hot-blooded lunatic Luigi Vannucchi and proceeds to make Montand's life miserable. Rappeneau's film is so chock full of mayhem, it reaches giddy peaks. A fun, nearly slapstick comedy with undeniable chemistry between the stars. Montand is in top form and Denueve is shockingly loose. Vannucchi is appropriately madcap, stealing each scene he's in. Tony Roberts is also in it and gets a lot of laughs as Deneuve's unsavory ex-boss. Bobo Lewis plays a crafty and unlikely private investigator. A great, very international (it's filmed in Venezuela, NYC and France) comedy.

Ugghh. I love French films but truly disliked this film. Considering it stars Catherine Deneuve and Yves Montand, you sure would expect it to be well written and engaging. Well, unfortunately, it's not. In fact, for much of the film, I truly hated Catherine Deneuve's character--so much that I was longing for Montand to kill her...slowly and very painfully! This is NOT a good thing if you are trying to make this film a romantic comedy!! The film starts with Deneuve marrying an obnoxious Italian man who behaves like a mobster with less self-control than Joe Pesci in GOODFELLAS. Through most of the film, he yells and behaves like a Moose during rutting season. It's no wonder, then, that Deneuve soon disappears--realizing she made a mistake. However, in a "kooky" move, she spends the next half of the movie using every man that comes near her. Her old boss (Tony Roberts) owes her some money, so she steals his Toulouse-Lautrec painting (worth many, many times what he owes her). When nice guy Montand hears Deneuve and her husband arguing like hyenas, he comes to help her--and she manages to nearly get him killed, uses him to get plane fare and never once says thanks.At this point, I am seriously wondering if I've ever hated any woman in a film this much in recent memory...but it gets much worse. Instead of taking the plane, she sneaks off to an island where Montand lives very happily all alone. She never asks to stay but begins acting like the island is hers. He gets angry and puts her aboard his boat to take her back to the mainland and she responds by getting an axe and tearing the hull apart--sinking his boat and stranding them on the island. After that, other "amusing" things she does is steal his food, tries to lock him in the basement and take the house for herself and pouts...a lot. I'm thinking to myself that there is nothing funny or romantic about any of this, yet oddly they then sleep together. She responds by then ignoring him for most of the rest of this film. What a wretched, demanding and self-absorbed "lady".Late in the film, Deneuve's husband finds her and takes her back. Oddly, you'd think Montand would be thrilled but since this is a romantic comedy, he then realizes how much he loves her (!?) and goes looking for her once he's able to get off the island! What a contrived and witless script!! Sadly, while Deneuve was the main focus of the film, her selfish character was pretty but 100% vacuous and unlikable. On the other hand, Montand had a wonderful backstory that was interesting...too bad there wasn't nearly enough time to delve into it and explore it completely--especially when after being taken to New York, he suddenly magically returns to Venezuela (where most of the film occurred). This is a great case of "scene missing here" logic! Overall, you've got a script so horrible that Julia Roberts would even refuse to be in such a contrived and unlikable romance. Badly written and a total waste of the stars' considerable talents. This is just brainless and hard going from start to contrived finish.

Recipe for escapist film: Take one top writer (Jean-Loup Dabadou), add one top director (Jean-Paul Rappeneau), season with a brace of A-list vedettes (Yves Montand, Catherine Deneuve), and a dash of screwball and voila! Eat! Enjoy! A guy who has quit the perfume business and found that the Grasse is greener in the islands, a gal running away from a vitriolic Italian, a stolen Lautrec, a bearded Montand, a gorgeous Deneuve, an island idyll. What more do you want. You DO want more? Gee, some people are NEVER satisfied. How about Tony Roberts doing the Tony Randall/Gig Young stooge to Doris Day-James Garner-Rock Hudson spot and proving up to snuff. NOW will you go see it and do yourself a favor. This is a million miles away from Godard pretentiousness and all the better for it. 9/10

After thirty, I suppose a legend is able to do pretty much what she wants. Here, Catherine Deneuve, tiring of being the glacial Grace Kelly type for Bunuel, Truffaut et les autres opts for very effective physical comedy alongside Yves Montand.They do Cary Grant-Katharine Hepburn-style farcical routines very well. Deneuve, escaping from her frenetic fiance, hooks up with Montand, who is himself fleeing marital and business entanglements. Tony Roberts, seen in Woody Allen films of the period, does very well as the club owner from whom Deneuve steals a Toulouse-Lautrec, and who must track down the dizzy blonde in Venezuela to get it back. Jean-Paul Rappeneau's direction is accomplished and the scenery is gorgeous. There is a car chase that actually is funny, and I can't recall the last one that made me laugh.