icedwaif I do like surreal films and being a fan of Bertrand Blier found this movie very delightful. Extremely hilarious and well acted, this movie had me hooked right from the beginning. The movie basically handles the breaking down of a marriage due to an affair, and the emotions of the man and the other woman in particular.The scenes at Depardieu's home with his family and the Schubert music in the background were very amusing. The three main actors were excellent. Carole Bouquet asking "Are there any more questions?" while having dinner with friends was just side-splitting. Josiane Balasko acts her part as the lovesick woman well. Depardieu as usual is an excellent mixture of his vulnerable and tough guy self.The cinematography was first class and the music score resplendent. Wouldn't hesitate in recommending this film to any lover of international cinema and surrealistic films.

jotix100 This film is making a point about how beauty can be a handicap. Look at Florence, the gorgeous young wife of Bernard, a successful business man in Marseille. Any man could kill for the privilege of being next to such a ravishing creature, yet, Bernard lusts after his plain looking temp secretary, Colette.Bertrand Blier, a controversial director himself, wants to explore on the idea that sometimes this beauty is too much for a ordinary looking man, with down to earth tastes. Even the exquisite music by Schubert, his own son plays at home, is a cause for irritation for Bernard. When Colette decides to go after him, he feels right at home with this asserting woman who brings a lust in him that is obviously lacking from his own bed at home with Florence. Florence, on the other hand, is a woman that must intimidate Bernard because her beauty is unreachable.The film is done in a way that most of the dialog consists in the inner thoughts of the particular character that is thinking at the time. These thoughts can be disorienting since Mr. Blier employs a non linear style to present his tale. Thus, the film loses a bit of its immediacy for the viewer that might not be paying attention to what is being said at any particular moment.By juxtaposing an actor that is the antithesis of handsomeness, Gerard Depardieu, against the exquisitely gorgeous Carole Bouquet, Mr. Blier achieves a coup, because we are trained to believe that only beauty can bring happiness. The plain Colette, being played by Josiane Balasko, is a strong presence in the movie. She achieves all what she set out to do in making Bernard a slave because she understands him intellectually as well as sexually.The film evidently came and went without much fanfare. Paying a visit to this beautifully photographed film by the great Philippe Rosselot, will delight fans of Bertrand Blier. It also helps that the director has included some sublime music by Franz Schubert in the background.

George Parker "To Beautiful For You" tells of a French car dealer (Depardieu) who is married to a beautiful women (Boquet) but falls in lust with his less than beautiful temp (Balasko). What follows is an affair and much discourse about same between husband and wife, wife and temp, temp and husband, and all permutations thereof as they ponder the meaning of love. The film is not for want of a good cast or production talent and earned respectable marks from critics and public alike. However, is suffers from obvious histrionics and didactics and an off-puting uneven flow which make for a less than immersing experience. TBFY has little nudity or sex but some very explicit language. Only for those into esoteric French films. (B)

Honkon Very few directors are prepared to take the sort of liberties Blier does, both in terms of subject matter and the manner of telling the story. "Trop Belle Pour Toi" is perhaps his most accessible film, telling the story of a successful man with a beautiful wife who unaccountably falls in love with his dumpy secretary. Depardieu is wonderful in this, utterly bewildered by his predicament, and the noted comedienne Balasko is radiant as a woman in love.The style is almost cubist, the celebrated "beginning middle and end but not necessarily in that order", and alternative storylines are proposed and discarded at whim, to the evident confusion of some viewers. Blier has often gone all out to shock but that's less evident here, however his audacious humour remains intact. Not one for the viewer who likes to sit back and be told a straight story but for the rest of us, a joy from start to finish.