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Happiness Never Comes Alone

Happiness Never Comes Alone (Un bonheur n'arrive jamais seul)

Movie · 2012 · 15 people

Two people with nothing in common meet by chance and fall in love despite the gulf between their lives in Happiness Never Comes Alone (original title Un bonheur n'arrive jamais seul). Gad Elmaleh and Sophie Marceau play the couple in this 2012 French romantic comedy, which James Huth directed for Pathé; it runs about 110 minutes and opened in France on 27 June 2012.

Gad Elmaleh plays Sacha Keller, the son of a famous late composer, who plays piano in a jazz club at night and enjoys parties and short-lived flings. Sophie Marceau plays Charlotte, a mother of three with two ex-husbands and a demanding career, searching for stability. Their romance is complicated by Alain Posche, her ex-husband, a very wealthy industrialist who still wants to steer her life. He is also the biggest client of the advertising agency that keeps Sacha afloat, and he uses every underhand trick to wreck the new relationship. The cast also includes Maurice Barthélémy, Bérénice Marlohe and François Berléand.

Huth wrote the screenplay with his wife, Sonja Shillito. Previously known for the crime comedy Serial Lover, he has said he drew on Frank Capra for this story of opposites attracting.

DirectorJames Huth
Production companyPathé

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Cast

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Sophie Marceau Sophie Marceau Actor · 59 years old François Berléand François Berléand Actor · 74 years old Gad Elmaleh Bérénice Marlohe Cyril Gueï François Vincentelli Jack Lang Jérôme Seydoux Julie-Anne Roth Macha Méril Maurice Barthélemy Michaël Abiteboul Pierre-Yves Plat Robert Charlebois Valérie Crouzet

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

James Huth has said he drew on Frank Capra for this story of opposites attracting, and that ambitious reference sets both the film's bar and its problem. The contrast between a bachelor who plays piano in a jazz club and loves parties and short flings, and a career woman with three children who is looking for stability, is one of romantic comedy's most familiar formulas. The script knows how to wring comedy from the clash of these two worlds and gives the genre's loyal audience what it wants. In my view, though, the social warmth and moral tension that power Capra's films are much thinner here; the script struggles to offer any surprise beyond the formula, and where things are heading is largely predictable.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Beneath the light shell of a romantic comedy there are observations about today's European family. A woman with three children, two ex-husbands and a demanding career is no longer an exception, and the film does well to put her at the centre of the story. The very wealthy ex-husband using his money to sway both her life and the agency that keeps her new partner afloat shows how class and power seep into private life. Yet at comedy speed these themes mostly stay on the surface; the film chooses to use them as obstacles rather than explore them. Still, the way it treats blended, many-branched families as an ordinary reality is worth noting.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

It's a romantic comedy with a generally light, fun mood. But the hero's life revolves around nights out and short flings, and a love affair sits at the heart of the story. So it suits teenagers and adults more than young children. A mother of three trying to fit a new love into her life is a familiar subject for divorced or remarried families. Parents can happily watch it together.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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