Barnie et Ses Petites Contrarietes on AllMovie

A man keeping a few too many secrets finds them coming back to haunt him in this farcical comedy. Barnie (Fabrice Luchini) is an ordinary looking guy working in the shipping business who happens to have an unusually busy love life. While seemingly happily married to Lucie (Nathalie Baye) in Calais, Barnie has not one but two lovers in London -- Margot (Marie Gillian), a younger woman who works in commercial art, and Mark (Hugo Speer), a man employed by an auction house. Lucie doesn't know about Barnie's lovers, and neither Margot nor Mark is aware of Barnie's wife -- or his bisexuality. As chance would have it, all three decide upon the same present for Barnie's 45th birthday -- tickets for a getaway to Venice on the Orient Express. Barnie decides holding on to his marriage is his first priority, so he opts to visit Venice with Lucie, sending back Mark and Margot's tickets with polite notes of regret. However, Mark's letter is sealed in Margot's envelope and vice versa, and soon the two know about each other, with a little detective work tipping them off to the full extent of Barnie's secret life. Eager for revenge, Mark and Margot pay a visit to Venice, where posing as man and wife they drop in unannounced on Barnie and Lucie, throwing the unfaithful husband into a panic.