Missing here is Henri's wife Arlette, who has left him for a while, although it's some time before this will be revealed. But it's clear that Henri, who no doubt it's too much given to good moods, is in an even worse one today. The self-obsessed Philippe isn't in a good mood either: the successful member of the family, he's just appeared on television and worried endlessly about whether he didn't smile enough, wore the wrong tie, etc. His wife Yolande comes across as downtrodden, her mother-in-law dotes on Philippe, and she criticises Betty for (at thirty) not being married and for using language 'unbecoming' of her – needless to say, Betty is the rebel of the family secretly having a relationship with Denis (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), Henri's flunky.
There are a number of amusing moments, such when Yolande lets her hair down (well, kicks off her shoes) and delightedly – almost sexually enjoys a dance with Denis, her husband having scornfully refused; when Henri visits Arlette in the apartment block where she's staying and the kids gathered outside join in his cries of 'Arlette!' to her; when towards the end Betty joins Denis in passionate embrace and Yolande realises that their relationship is far deeper than she had thought, and sees Denis as her 'brother-in-law', the 'son-in-law' of the mother; and many more instances of verbal humour.
The film ends shortly after Henri receives a phone call from Arlette, and he says that he's going to be a better person. The viewer suspects that this will be pretty hard to do, as Cédric Klapisch has depicted quite a gloomy view of relationships in this surprisingly gripping movie. The only overdone elements perhaps are the repeated scenes of an ironically very happy childhood with Dalida singing 'Come prima' (and incidentally, Klapisch himself playing the happy father).
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