''Une Femme ou Deux'' (English: ''One Woman or Two'') is a French

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

romance film released in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. It was directed by , who was also the screenwriter along with

Élisabeth Rappeneau Élisabeth Rappeneau (19 January 1940 – 2 January 2020)Madame Elisabe ...

. It stars Gérard Depardieu,

Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gramm ...

, and

Dr. Ruth Westheimer Karola Ruth Westheimer ( Siegel; born June 4, 1928), better known as Dr. Ruth, is a German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper. Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish fam ...

Plot

Shy

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

/archaeologist ( Gérard Depardieu) makes an archeological find of the fossil remains of the first, two-million-year-old, French woman, whom he calls Laura.Richard Harrington (March 2, 1987)
"‘One Woman or Two’ (PG-13)"
''The Washington Post''.Leonard Maltin (2013)
''Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide''
/ref> He is approached and conned by a crass and greedy American model and Madison Avenue advertising executive (

), masquerading as a charity organisation executive in order to use the woman for her own perfume advertising campaign. Later the real charity organisation executive, ditzy rich American patroness of the sciences (

Ruth Westheimer Karola Ruth Westheimer ( Siegel; born June 4, 1928), better known as Dr. Ruth, is a German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper. Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish fam ...

; Dr. Ruth, in her feature film debut) turns up ... it all develops from there. The movie is noted as a rework of the American 1938 classic screwball comedy ''

Bringing Up Baby ''Bringing Up Baby'' is a 1938 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film tells the story of a paleontologist in a number of predic ...

'', starring Katharine Hepburn and

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

Cast

* Gérard Depardieu: Julien Chayssac *

: Jessica Fitzgerald *

: Mrs. Heffner *

Michel Aumont Michel Henri Aumont (15 October 1936 – 28 August 2019) was a French theatre, film, and television actor. Throughout his career, he gained four Molière Awards and nominations for three César Awards. In 2015, he was made Grand Officer of the Na ...

: Pierre Carrière *

Zabou Breitman Zabou Breitman (born Isabelle Breitman; 30 October 1959), or simply Zabou, is a French actress and director. She is the daughter of actors Jean-Claude Deret and Céline Léger. At the age of four, she appeared in her first movie. Since 1981, Z ...

: Constance Michaux *

Tannis Vallely Tannis Kathleen Vallely (December 28, 1975 in New York City) is an American casting director and former child actress. She played Zoé in the French film ''Une Femme ou Deux'' (English: ''One Woman or Two''; 1985). She played Janice Lazzarotto on ...

: Zoé Sigourney Weaver and Dr. Ruth speak most of their dialogue in French.

Production

The film was shot in France (much of it in Paris) and New York City. French paleontologist

Yves Coppens Yves Coppens (9 August 1934 – 22 June 2022) was a French anthropologist. A graduate from the University of Rennes and Sorbonne, he studied ancient hominids and had multiple published works on this topic, and also produced a film. In October ...

advised on the film.

Release

It was released in the U.S. under the name ''One Woman or Two'', the literal English language translation of its French language title.

Reviews

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' reviewer Roger Ebert wrote of this film in a half star review, "Add it all up, and what you've got here is a waste of good electricity. I'm not talking about the electricity between the actors. I'm talking about the current to the projector." In 2005 he included it on his most-hated films list. Richard Harrington writing for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' said: "it's funny enough, and genial in the way French comedy tends to be." Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, writing for ''Spirituality & Practice'', rated it 3 out of 5, saying the film "abounds in zany situations" and "offers plenty of chuckles."

References

External links

*
''Timeout'' film guide 13!
* 1985 comedy films 1980s French-language films 1980s screwball comedy films 1985 films 1985 romantic comedy films French romantic comedy films Films set in France Films shot in France Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City 1980s French films {{1980s-comedy-film-stub