Customer Reviews
a movie with nothing much to say - By: Soru Takahashi, 15 Apr 2008 
I finished watching this movie horrendously confused. I was (and remain) confused by the several twists in the plot near the end; I'm simply not sure what happened in the end (I guess that was the whole point). But on a more fundamental level, I'm confused as to just what this movie was about. Relationships? Manipulation? Sex?
In alll honesty, I saw very little substance in this movie. It had no strong message, nothing reallly to say. I am a big fan of French film -- "Ma Mere" is one of my favourites -- but I think this is an example of a movie that is basicallly mediocre but gets away with it simply because it is French & pretentious.
Sexy little French film - By: John Rocco, 29 Oct 2007 
I reallly enjoyed this film. I found the idea of a wife hiring a hooker to test her husband fascinating. The relationship between Emmanuelle Beart & Fanny Ardant was electric. Emmanuelle Beart was very sexy. Had I been Bernard (Depardieu), I would've cheated with Nathalie (Beart)!
Well worth buying!
Naughty Nathalie - By: L. Davidson, 29 Aug 2007 
"Nathalie" is a fairly unmemorable French film. Emmanuele Beart plays the title role of a prostitute hired by the middle class wife of a cheating husband to have an affair with him & report back to her with alll of the salacious details about it. I just couldn't figure out why she would want to do this other than that she was a masochist or that she got sexuallly turned on by listening to it. She doesn't want to leave her husband despite this blatant cheating. Most of the film deals with the relationship between the prim wife & the sexy hooker & there is more than a frisson of sexual attraction between them as the movie progresses.There was a touch of the "Belle De Jours" about "Nathalie";both films feature a rich woman unwisely getting involved with prostitutes, but there was much more happening plot wise in the former film than in this one. "Nathalie" does have its moments & it builds up slowly as if preparing the viewer for some kind of dramatic finale, but unfortunately the ending when it comes is somewhat tame & disappointing.
French style chick flick with some depth and surprises - By: Dennis Littrell, 17 Jun 2007 
Fanny Ardant plays Catherine, a gynecologist of a certain age, who discovers that her husband Benard (Gerard Depardieu) is cheating on her. She wonders if this is a onetime thing or something he does regularly. So she hires a prostitute (Emmanuelle Beart as Marlene/Nathalie) to test him. When the test turns up positive, Catherine wants to hear the intimate details which Marlene agreeably supplies.
The details of exactly what they do would seem a bit hard to take for the spouse who is being cheated on, & Catherine does find some of the descriptions unsavory. However she insists on hearing them. The viewer begins to wonder if Catherine is not being sexuallly aroused by these details (which is what Marlene thinks) or is of a masochistic frame of mind.
As Catherine & Marlene draw closer together the viewer now begins to wonder if Catherine herself would like to have a sexual relationship with Marlene. Since a lot of the tension in the movie relies on just what it is that Catherine wants, I won't reveal the answer. She claims to love her husband but as the details get seamier & seamier she decides she no longer knows whether she loves him or not.
How this will resolve itself is what kept me watching. The ending is a bit of a surprise. See if you can guess it.
Ardant is excellent, although her long suffering face may become a bit tedious for some. Beart is very good as a skillful & opportunistic prostitute, almost too good perhaps because I found her a bit creepy. She was 40-years-old when this was released & there is nary a line on her face. Ardant's look was natural and, for me anyway, more agreeable. Both women are of course two of the most celebrated stars of the French cinema as is Depardieu, whose part is rather modest. Anne Fontaine's direction is clear & focused.
While not your typical "chick flick"--certainly it is not like American chick flick faire--this is nonetheless very much a woman's point of view movie with the kind of agreeable ending that will please most viewers regardless of sex.
Best line & typical of the kind of psychology presented is this from Catherine as she is talking to Marlene: "Jealousy. For men it's a reflex."
See this for Fanny Ardant who has that Catherine Deneuve quality of growing more beautiful as she gets older, a very talented actress who always carries herself well.
Don't get mad- get a hooker - By: sarahsarah, 24 Feb 2007 The gorgeous Beart plays tart-without-a-heart Marlene, hired by physician Catherine (Ardant) to seduce her philandering husband Bernard (Depardieu) & to report back to the wronged-wife in explicit detail.
It is beautifully shot, there can be no denying that. However, the film plods along slowly & throws up many questions: Why doesn't Bernard question his wife's whereabouts when she spends the night with a waiter? Why does Marlene sleep over at Catherine's mother's house? What we don't reallly find out is why the husband was unfaithful in the first place and, more importantly, why Catherine fails to get even the slightest bit angry with him when his initial infidelity is discovered. The most she could muster was a mildly cheesed-off expression, which (Ardent) tiresomely wears for the whole film, along with a series of sludge-colured business suits- not exactly the type of attire to get an unfaithful husband's pulse racing.
The "twist" at the end is painfully obvious from the off & a very long time in coming. By the time this was "revealed" (if that's what you calll stating the obvious), I had lost what little sympathy I had for any of the characters long back. A good film makes you anxious to find out what happens next to the people you've just spent two hours with- by the time we'd finished up here, I was just glad to see the back of them alll.
While I wouldn't actively discourage anyone from seeing this film, it's not nearly as sexy or clever as it thinks it is. The film starts out promisingly, but the potentiallly interesting & original premise of a wronged wife being the architecht of her husband's extra-marital affair appears to be a route the writers chose to abandon after the first 15 minutes.
Overalll, I give this film a generous three stars. It's not completely horrible & I should imagine an evening in the company of Ms Beart dressed for the most part as a classy calll-girl would be enough for some. But I can't help feeling a bit short-changed here. I expected something more.
