User Reviews

First, I have to say I saw this movie in its original language.

The main idea is not bad, but something is missing. Well, Didier Bourdon, as a part of The Inconnus in 90s, was a handsome guy. But nowadays, he just became fat and ugly. In this movie, he is married, and his wife is kinda pretty. His mistress is pretty too. I don't understand how these nice women can have fallen in love with him...and can have accepted to share him, week after week. The main plot is just unbelievable.

I dunno if the foreign version will be edited, but there is a gross scene : full frontal nudity of Bourdon. Sorry filmmakers, but that was not funny, just disgusting.

And there are some cliches : mistress boss is gay, Bourdon best friend is gay too, these two friends will be together at the end, the children doesn't like the mistress but accept her in the end. Don't forget the easy-and-usual "toilets joke", and then the heart attack of Bourdon.

I give it a 4/10 because it has its moments, and it gave me a few smiles. Be aware this is not a great good french comedy as "Le diner de cons". But if you got friends at home, beer and pizzas, why not.

Being a fan of Didier Bourdon, I'm never disappointed with his interpretations, the story is really original and I immersed myself in it. however, I felt very strongly the discomfort of the situations and therefore felt uncomfortable. Some scene meant to be funny did not make me laugh but my rather uncomfortable. I did not see how the character could get away and the end surprised me.

With her brilliant debut Les Soeurs fachee (The Angry Sisters) Alexandra Leclere took her first tentative steps toward the Pantheon of French femal writer-directors, becoming less and less tentative with each succeeding title - Prix a payer, Maman etc - and now, with Garde Alternee, her fifth full-length movie, she bounds confidently to take the place she has earned alongside luminaries of the calibre of Daniele Thompson, Marion Vernoux, Nicole Garcia, Tonie Marshall, Anne Fontaine and the rest. A typical English reaction to Garde Alternee may well be 'typical French', given that the plot has Valerie Bonneton discovering that husband Didier Bourdon has a mistress in the shape of Isabel Carre and instead of merely confronting one or both she coolly proposes to Carre that they share Bourdon, a week with each. With a premise like this you can go either way; fall like a lead balloon or soar like a lemon soufflé' borne aloft on the wings of an eagle. No prizes for guessing what happens here. A delight from start to finish.