''I Do'' (; ) or ''Rent a Wife'' (international working title), is a 2006 French

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by Éric Lartigau, based on an original idea by

Alain Chabat Alain Chabat (; born 24 November 1958) is a French actor, comedian, director, screenwriter, producer and television presenter. Originally known for his work in the comedy group Les Nuls, including as the co-writer and lead actor of ''La Cité de ...

. The film stars

Charlotte Gainsbourg Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British and French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress and singer Jane Birkin and French singer Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the ...

and

Bernadette Lafont Bernadette Lafont (; 28 October 1938 – 25 July 2013) was a French actress who appeared in more than 120 feature films. She has been considered "the face of French New Wave". In 1999 she told ''The New York Times'' her work was "the motor of my e ...

. It is Chabat and Gainsbourg's third collaboration, after ''

Ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants ''Happily Ever After'' (; Translation: ''They married and had many children'') is a 2004 French comedy drama film. The film is written and directed by Yvan Attal, produced by Claude Berri, and starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Yvan Attal. It was ...

'' (2004) and '' The Science of Sleep'' (2006). This film was officially remade into an Indian

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of ...

film '' Manmadhudu 2'' released in August 2019.

Plot summary

Luis Campos (

), 43, happily single, mollycoddled by his family (mother and 5 sisters, who by design established by his late father Hercule form a kind of family council known as the ''G7''), has a successful career as a

perfumer A perfumer is an expert on creating perfume compositions, sometimes referred to affectionately as a ''nose'' () due to their fine sense of smell and skill in producing olfactory compositions. The perfumer is effectively an artist who is trained i ...

and an easy life. Tired of taking care of him, the G7 decide he should get married within a year. The problem is Luis does not want any kind of serious relationship since they ruined his first true love. After turning down all the girls introduced to him, he gets an idea: "rent" his best friend's sister, Emma (

), turn her into the perfect bride-to-be, and make her not show up on their wedding day. That way, Luis thinks his family will leave him alone. Unfortunately for him, his family likes Emma and blames him when she apparently jilts him at the altar. He then comes up with an alternate plan to have Emma act horribly towards his family so they will not like her anymore. The two begin to fall in love so Luis finally stands up to his family, confesses his schemes and finally settles down with Emma.

Cast

- Luis Costa *

- Emma *

- Geneviève Costa *

Wladimir Yordanoff Wladimir Yordanoff (; 28 March 1954 – 6 October 2020) was a French actor of Bulgarian origin. He appeared in more than sixty films since 1979. Yordanoff died on 6 October 2020 in Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural ...

- Francis Bertoff *

Grégoire Oestermann Grégoire is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname / Family name *Alexandre Grégoire (1922–2001), Haitian painter *Antonina Grégoire (1914-1952), Belgian commercial engineer, feminist and communist, me ...

- Pierre-Yves * Véronique Barrault - Catherine *

Marie-Armelle Deguy Marie-Armelle Deguy is a French actress, the daughter of poet and essayist Michel Deguy. Filmography Cinema *1988: ''La Septième dimension'' by Laurent Dussaux *1988: ''Zanzibar'' by Christine Pascal *1988: '' L'Enfance de l'art'' by Fra ...

- Axelle *

Aïssa Maïga Aïssa Maïga (born 5 May 1975) is a Senegal-born French actress, director, writer, producer, and activist. Maïga has worked with major auteurs like Michael Haneke, Abderrahmane Sissako and Michel Gondry, and recently starred in Chiwetel Ejio ...

- Kirsten Hansen * Katia Lewkowicz - Carole * Louise Monot - Maxine *

Anne Marivin Anne Marivin (born 23 January 1974) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than fifty film and television productions since 1994. Marivin was noticed in television appearances such as ''Tel père, tel flic'' (2001) and ''Père et Maire'' ...

- Sales Associate * Éric Lartigau - A passerby

Production

Alain Chabat originally came up with the idea for the film and planned to produce the film and write the script. Director Éric Lartigau asked him to play the role of Luis so he rewrote the character as an older man. Over a five-year period Chabat's original script went through seven different rewrites by four other scriptwriters. Chabat decided to include a scene where the character of Emma watches an action film. After comparing different Chinese

kung fu films Kung fu film () is a subgenre of martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema set in the contemporary period and featuring realistic martial arts. It lacks the fantasy elements seen in ''wuxia'', a related martial arts genre that uses historical ...

, he settled on a 100-second fight sequence from the Indian film '' Muthu'' (1995). The film was shot in Mézy-sur-Seine, and in different parts of Paris, including the Parisian suburb of

Pantin Pantin () is a Communes of France, commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. In 2019 its population was estimated to be 59,846. Pantin is located on the edge of ...

Box office reception

Released on November 1, 2006, in France, the film went straight to #1 at the box office, grossing over a million tickets. It spent six consecutive weeks in the box office top 10. By December 19, the film had reached the 3 million tickets sold mark. It eventually sold just over 3.5 million tickets, making it the second most successful film of 2007 at the French box office.

Awards and nominations

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

(France) ** Nominated: Best Actor – Leading Role (Alain Chabat) ** Nominated: Best Actress – Leading Role (Charlotte Gainsbourg) ** Nominated: Best Actress – Supporting Role (Bernadette Lafont)

References

External links

*
Official site
*
''I Do'' at AllMovie
*

trailer (in French with English subtitles) *

at allocine.fr - pics, trailers * {{DEFAULTSORT:I Do (2006 Film) 2006 films 2006 romantic comedy films 2000s French-language films French romantic comedy films 2000s French films