Review: Gemma Arterton sizzles in Gemma Bovery

REVIEW: Two very picturesque locations are continually jostling for your attention in Gemma Bovery.

Gemma Bovery (MA15+)

Director: Anne Fontaine (Adoration)

Starring: Gemma Arterton, Fabrice Luchini, Jason Flemyng, Isabelle Candelier.

Rating: **

Another reminder looks aren’t everything

Two very picturesque locations are continually jostling for your attention in Gemma Bovery.

A cute-looking cross-section of French countryside and the voluptuous physique of star Gemma Arterton are both doing the “hey, look at me!” thing to an almost comical degree.

However, what isn’t so amusing is the plain fact an intriguing take on a classic story (the 1856 Gustav Flaubert novel Madame Bovary) has been detoured by all that geography and all those curves.

Arterton plays an English expat who has crossed the channel to take long walks in her extensive collection of slinky summer dresses, and possibly to try and revitalise her marriage to a dullard of a husband (Jason Flemyng).

Intriguing .. Gemma Arterton and Fabrice Luchini in Gemma Bovery.

Our heroine soon gets bored with everything concerning her spouse, and begins scouting her new neighbourhood for a little fresh excitement on the tall-dark-and-handsome front.

Meanwhile, a friendly, well-read local baker in his sixties (Fabrice Luchini), can’t help but notice that the comely new visitor is becoming more like the famous Madame Bovary with each passing day.

The overall vibe of Gemma Bovery is so lazily breezy, you begin to wonder how it got made at all.

While Arterton does improve markedly in her role once some much needed dramatic darkness looms later on in proceedings, others around her are not nearly so lucky.

If you have plans on catching July’s more traditional adaptation of Madame Bovary starring Mia Wasikowska, it might be worth steering clear of this one for now.

Originally published as Review: Gemma Arterton sizzles in Gemma Bovery