YOUR WORLD CAN . CHANGE OVER • LUNCH. 41 1 T S \) V LUNCHr Dating for Busy Professionals ® Entertainment Directors: Angela Johnson At The Movies Nancy Ansara `My Wife Is An Actress' Heather Hill An ordinary guy copes with the temptations of his wife's career in French comedy screening at the DFT. Pamela Lanier AUDREY BECKER Special to the Jewish News Nancy Kirsch I is not uncommon for celebrities to marry other celebrities. That way, they have a partner who — for better or worse — understands the complicated life of the cultural star. But what happens when a movie star marries an "ordinary" guy? This is the premise of Israeli-born Yvan Attars quick and witty French comedy My Wife Is an Actress, showing Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at the Detroit Film Theatre. Director/screenwriter Attal stars as "Yvan," a handsome Jewish sports- writer. Yvan is married to French film star "Charlotte," played by Attal's real- life wife, Charlotte Gainsbourg (The Jennifer Pannucci It's Just Lunch! Imagine the Possibilities Detroit 248.273.1000 35 locations Nationwide 11 Years of Experience 620130 Little Thief Felix et Lola). Difficulties arise for Yvan not only because Charlotte is repeatedly approached for autographs and photos but because her latest movie has pro- pelled her to sex symbol status. To make matters worse, Charlotte is leav- ing for London to begin work on her next film, starring opposite a British actor with Sean Connery-like sex appeal (Terence Stamp). What follows is Yvan's self-defeating attempts to come to terms with his wife's on-screen love scenes. My Wife Is an Actress is an enjoyable, light comedy that satisfies in many ways. The pace is excellent, and Attal — an actor for more than a dozen years — has a keen.sense of timing. It's thoroughly entertaining to watch Yvan's jealousy esca- late as he grapples with the distinction between acting and reality. How can filming a sex scene be just another day at work for his wife? But the film doesn't quite rise to the challenges it poses. My Wife Is an Actress suggests fundamental philo- sophical questions about the nature of theater and performance that go unex- amined. After all, Plato banished the poets and playwrights from his Republic because they wrote fictions that prompted people to believe in false things. The film flirts with these more Cut Of Destiny 30% - 70% OFF YOUR PRESCRIPTIONS - DELIVERED Get your American prescriptions at low Canadian prices! CALL (877) CAN-AM30 www.canamrx.com PRIVATE BANQUET FACILITIES FOR ALL OCCASIONS r r FOR $2 Orr OFF BEII) CHICKEN '2 OFF PIAB2 WITH OR WITHOUT SKIN SPECIALLY-TRIMMED RIBS I ALL DINNERS INCLUDE: SALAD OR COLE ALL DINNERS INCLUDE: SALAD OR COLE I SLAW, POTATOES AND GARUC BREAD SLAW, POTATOES AND GARLIC BREAD GOOD 7 DAYS! ■ Exp. 9/30/2002 'TN I GOOD 7 DAYS! ■ Exp. 9/30/2002 JN PY - 1/e 8/30 2002 88 L J Brass Pointecg;odsz---*)"6 24234 Orchard Lake Rd., N.E. corner of 10 Mile • 476-1377 French filmmaker Yvan Attal on what it means to be Jewish. • MICHAEL FOX Special to the Jewish News or a filmmaker on a pub- • licity tour to promote a comedy, Yvan Attal, direC- tor . of My Wife Is an Actress, is surprisingly earnest. Yes, it's risky to attempt jokes in one's second language. The truth, though, is that Anal takes the subject of Jewish identity extremely seriously. "I have kind of an obsession with the fact that I'm Jewish, that it's important to stay Jewish and that cir- cumcising your son is the first thing you can do for your child — and for you — to stay Jewish," he says. Attal also is the star of My Wife Is • an Actress, his feature debut as a director. He plays Yvan, a Jewish sportswriter who's routinely annoyed by the celebrity of his movie-star wife, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, Attal's real-life wife and the daughter of the late French Jewish pop icon Serge Gainsbourg (born Lucien Ginz.burg) and his non- Jewish former wife, British actress/singer Jane Birkin. "People used to say that Jews exist because racists exist," muses Attal, who was born in Israel to Algerian parents who moved to France when he was an infant. "When we erase all the racism from the earth, [then} what is it to be Jewish? For me it's obvious that to be Jewish is the Torah, even if I'm not practicing my religion." •