Mariages! (2004) - film review

Johanna and Benjamin are both 25 and have decided to forego their carefree single lives in exchange for one of conjoined marital bliss.  On the day of their wedding, Johanna’s mother, Gabrielle, tries to patch things up with her ex-husband Pierre, who left ten years before.  Meanwhile, Benjamin’s best friend Alex is on the point of splitting up with Valentine, who is having a torrid love affair with Hugo, Johanna’s womanising uncle.  Have the newly weds made the right decision?

Mariages! offers a light-hearted, characteristically French view of the pros and cons (mostly the cons) of marital life in our increasingly unromantic age.  Whilst it is mildly entertaining in parts, its shallow characterisation, lack of originality and lowbrow comic interludes are something of a turn off.  At times, the film does resemble a crude French attempt to mimic a popular American sitcom.  An attractive cast, which includes stars such as Miou-Miou and Mathilde Seigner, make something of a generally lacklustre script and give great entertainment value.  Something that is hard to forgive is the stomach-churningly sentimental ending (think Jane Austen on a bad day), which jars painfully with the film’s realistic, albeit somewhat ironic, view of matrimony.

© James Travers 2006

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