My Wife Is an Actress
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: July 12, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A romantic comedy for anyone in love with the movies, and anyone, for that matter, who's in love. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The film's most endearing trait is that these people sincerely love movies, and they truly love their own idiosyncrasies. And is that not the greatest love of all?
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
With every detail in this clever peekaboo, the sly filmmaker dangles the possibility that fiction is fact and that Yvan and Charlotte are real -- or at least as real as the movies. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
A terrifically deft picture about the thick line that separates movie glamour from the real world, and the thin line between common sense and paranoia. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
The film tends to groan under the weight of his obsessions -- and his sister's fixation on circumcising her son -- yet for much of the 95-minute running time the chemistry between Attal's vulnerable husband and Gainsbourg's sweet, beguiling wife is irresistible. The terrific score is by jazz pianist Brad Mehldau. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneLoren King
Despite its many charms, the title of the film -- both complaint and boast -- makes clear whose point of view this is. Gainsbourg is delightful, intelligent and sexy, but this isn't her film. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Gainsbourg's character seems too sweet to be true until she tangles with her onscreen director over nudity. The fire Gainsbourg brings to the scene suggests she's had similar battles. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Nearly stolen by the veteran Stamp's gently fatuous John. Read full review
70
Film ThreatTim Merrill
Never less than clever and often digs down into some uncomfortable realities about the strange lives of that odd species known as “movie people.” Read full review
70
SalonCharles Taylor
A light, enjoyable night out. This happens largely because of Charlotte Gainsbourg, who's simply adorable. Attal shoots her with tenderness throughout, a tenderness that comes from familiarity. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
While Gainsbourg and Stamp are charming, Attal's husband is difficult to like, to say the least. Must a woman as gracious and intelligent as Charlotte really settle for domesticity with such a near-abusive boor? Read full review
63
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Combine the title with the image of a dazzling female and a frazzled male, and you've got the movie perfectly. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Although the movie is not as hilarious as you'd hope from the screwball setup, Gainsbourg and Attal make a solid comedy team.
63
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Light as the film may be, My Wife Is An Actress is not devoid of charm. It's like a summer book: quick, enjoyable and, mostly, easily forgotten. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It circles the possibility of mental and spiritual infidelity like a cat wondering if a mouse might still be alive. Watching it, I felt it would be fascinating to see a movie that was really, truthfully, fearlessly about this subject. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJan Stuart
The French are very good at taking sit-commy setups and cloaking the machinery with charming and surprisingly resonant comic nuance. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Mr. Attal's real-life problem is his simplistic script, which makes the husband a childish fool and a bit of a bore.
60
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
A blackhearted little film. What's being marketed as a frothy French confection about jealousy (specifically the jealousy of a regular guy married to a famous movie star) also just so happens to be a portrait of a marriage going down the toilet. Read full review
60
VarietyDavid Stratton
A sporadically amusing but ultimately very slight showbiz story about being married to a celebrity. Most of the jokes and situations are predictable, and the film is saddled with irritating supporting characters. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Isn't profound or dazzling or groundbreaking. But it's a pleasant, clever and sincere little romp, proof that you don't need to harbor heroic ambitions to create something satisfying. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
None of this quite gets off the ground, and I found myself wanting to bid farewell to Yvan and Charlotte quite a while before the final credits rolled. Not every wannabe Woody Allen is Woody Allen. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's hard to tell whether Attal means the fictional Yvan to be such an colossal jerk. His abrasive obnoxiousness undermines the film's generally light tone, and seriously deflects sympathy away from his character's dilemma. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
In the end, one's appreciation of My Wife Is an Actress may depend on the extent to which you like the character of Yvan and relate to his anxieties. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Sadly, that thin premise snaps after a while, and when Wife takes a serious turn, it becomes apparent how little the director has to say. Read full review
40
New Times (L.A.)Bill Gallo
There is more anxiety than loving humor in the proceedings, and a noticeable lack of charm.
40
L.A. WeeklyRon Stringer
Calculated to titillate middlebrow audiences on both sides of la Manche. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Gainsbourg is virtually incidental to her mate's screeching navel-serenade, which maintains a stranglehold on the declarative first-person mode of its title. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Attal, who resembles a young Robert De Niro, seems as addled as a director as his character is as a husband, throwing all manner of distractions onto the screen in order to divert the audience. Read full review
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