You won't be disappointed!

Why so much hype?

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

After watching the very enjoyable 'My wife is an actress' I had high hopes for 'Happily ever after', alas, the experience was disappointing. Attal started by creating interesting, complex, and even likable characters but was not able to shed any light on his premise, that is 'does or can monogamy work and if how' and cops out in the end with a nonsensical elevator ride into the sky with Gabrielle and l'inconnu Johnny Depp inside. Attal was able to set up its premise nicely during the first half of the movie, then, like feeling himself that he actually has nothing to say really, tried to save the day with whimsical 'musical' numbers, mostly terrible sentimental songs to terrible sentimental montages. He might have tried to make ironical statements with that but it comes over as if he's trying to appeal to the masses and feed them some 'Amalie' moments. The film presents itself very energetic from the beginning, with excellent cinematography and lighting, though a bit too fast cut. All female roles - with the exceptions of Attals real world wife Charlotte Gainsbourg seem to be afterthoughts as he himself admits in an interview and it shows. While they could have added some insight into the 'premise' they haven't been asked to do so by the writer/director.

I walked out of this film after fifty minutes and would have been better off had I left after ten minutes.This film provides an example that the French are as capable of making films as bad as mainstream American trash. Here we focus on married couples, one of which--an Indian couple--hardly receives any attention because they represent a still-loving pair after fifteen or so years of marriage.Instead, the remaining husbands, Vincent and Georges, plus their single friend Fred, are the focus of attention. All of them are sexist louts only concerned with talking about bedding women and discussing women's T&A. Fred is a stereotype: the ugly guy you would think no woman would look at twice but who is, in fact, juggling a string of women. But then none of the male or female characters is developed in any depth here.It's hard to believe a film would waste time on such guys. Their wives would be better off divorced from these sexist pigs and their children probably would be better off without them, too. The lifestyle these people are shown living is remarkably like that of too many Americans seen in mainstream films--arguing with each other, spending too much time in front of a TV set, overeating, and overweight. Of course, in French films, there's plenty of smoking, but it often looks chic. Not here, where Gabrielle is shown cooking in one scene with a cigarette dangling out of her lips. Ugh! Even the apartments these people live in are ugly. Gabrielle's kitchen could use the services of a good cleaning company.The narrative line of the film is fractured. In the opening scene, Vincent comes into a bar and picks up his own wife, whom two other men are also trying to pick up. At this point, we don't understand that Vincent and Gabrielle are married. This makes for a very confusing opening to say the least.Elsewhere in the film, similar chronology tricks are employed. I hadn't the least interest in the characters and was be-damned if I was going to try to figure out the fractured chronology. As in the atrocious "The Constant Gardener," the in-your-face technique (swish pans and rack focusing in particular here) seem an attempt to distract viewers from the humorless, lousy story.At one point, Johnny Depp has a cameo moment with Gabrielle in a record store. Depp looks awful, as if he needed a shower, a shave, and a haircut as well as the services of the makeup people on the set. I understand that in a later scene, Depp reappears as a client to whom Gabrielle, a real estate agent, shows an apartment. And in that scene in an elevator going up to that apartment Gabrielle and the nameless character Depp plays at last have sex. Ho-hum. I obviously didn't miss a thing by walking out when I did.During the fifty minutes I was in the audience at the 19th Street Theatre in Allentown, PA, I heard no laughter at all from an audience of about 70 people. During a food fight scene (Can you believe it?) between Gabrielle and Vincent, I heard a few titters of laughter, that sounded like an embarrassed response, as if the titters came from people who were asking themselves, "What are we doing watching something like this?" I couldn't understand why the entire audience didn't arise en masse and leave the theatre.

Once again, Yvan Attal brings us his exploration into temptation. His previous film, 'Ma Femme est une Actress', was a dark comedy about a man paranoid that his actress wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) was being bedded by her leading actors. Gainsbourg returns as Attal's on screen wife for this, his second feature. Infidelity is the main topic of discussion as we follow three friends and their lives, which seem to revolve around sex, or lack thereof. Like a modern update of Yves Robert's 'Pardon Mon Affaire', Attal's use of humor helps placate the true sadness of the storyline.Vincent (Attal) and Georges (Chabat) are both married with a child. Vincent has, what his two friends perceive as, a happy marriage. He has a beautiful wife, Gabrielle, and a playful child. If they argue, it is quickly defused, and life is loving again. George, on the other hand, is constantly arguing with his nagging wife (Seigner), much to the chagrin of the quiet, East Indian neighbors. George is jealous of Fred (Cohen), the swinging bachelor who is constantly juggling a schedule of liaisons with a selection of beautiful women. George would love nothing better than to leave his wife, or at the very least, have an affair. But he doesn't have the guts, and if truth were told, he really does love her. Ironically, it is Fred who is jealous of his friends, as he longs for the commitment in a steady relationship. (WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD)But as we quickly discover, all is not perfect in paradise, as we see Vincent is having an affair unbeknownst to not only his wife, but also his friends. Gabrielle soon has a feeling about her husband's infidelity, but does not confront him, hoping instead that he will work it out of his system. We as the audience hope so too, since Vincent begins to come across as the cad destined to screw things up. There doesn't seem to be a rational reason for his straying, other than perhaps a change of scenery or the sexual excitement of a tryst. As in 'Actrice', we see one partner's paranoia for the other's fidelity. This time, it's the female perspective as Gabrielle, on a holiday with her son, considers the possibility of an affair herself. Thrown into all this is a few interesting cameo appearances – Producer/ Director Claude Berri (Manon Des Sources) and Anouk Aimee (Un homme et une femme) play Vincent's parents, and Johnny Depp, who's dialogue-free encounter with Gainsbourg in a music store is rife with sexual tension and desire.I found the film very enjoyable. Not completely a romantic comedy, but like 'Actrice' Attal reigns in both the humor and the drama to give a balancing act of non-judgmental reality. The soundtrack literally rocks, as Radiohead, Cinematic Orchestra, Cousteau, and the Velvet Underground help get Attal's message across. (Methinks he was a music video director in another life.)Highly recommended. 7/10(Note: The direct translation of the title, 'They Married and Had Lots of Children', differs from the English title '…And They Lived Happily Ever After' given.)

A very charming romantic drama. The cast and story are top notch. Although I have seen these actors in other films, they created such rich characters I felt that I was meeting them for the first time. Some of the film was hilarious, some was sad, some brought on some deja vu for the events many people can relate to in their own lives. Whatever the emotion of the scene, it all seemed quite realistic. I would recommend this to all audiences. I saw it in French with English subtitles. It seemed like everyone else in the theatre was as interested in the movie as I was too. It was a pretty hip contemporary story. The film ran for 105 minutes but I would have liked more - maybe Part II?