Laurent Lafitte and Fanny Ardant in Bright Days Ahead (Tribeca Film)

Director Marion Vernoux’s original French title, Les Beaux Jours, literally means The Good Days—clear and unambiguous with no mention of any future. Yet in the English translation it has become Bright Days Ahead. Both titles are ironic.

After her daughters buy Caroline (Fanny Ardant) a pass to Les Beaux Jours, a recreation club for “seniors,” the youthful dentist, recently forced into retirement because of an indiscretion, reluctantly attends. But incensed by the patronizing attitude of the staff, she vows never to revisit. However, frustrated by computer problems, she returns to take a class given by a young lecturer, Julien (Laurent Lafitte).

Coming to terms with her redundancy and the recent death of her best friend, Caroline is supported by her husband, Philippe (Patrick Chesnais), but when Julien unexpectedly makes a pass at her, Caroline succumbs, flattered by the younger man’s attention. As a casual affair intensifies, Caroline is conflicted when she becomes aware that Julien plays the field, and when her husband finds out about their affair, Caroline must make some tough choices.

Bright Days Ahead is a neat reversal of the accepted male cliché of an aging man bedding a younger woman to recapture his youth, yet Caroline is self-aware and by turns truculent, indignant, vulnerable, and self-conscious. Laurent Lafitte plays commitment phobic, sex addict Julien, oscillating between suave ease, indifference, and childish vulnerability. That said, the chemistry between Ardant and Lafitte is not convincing.

Bright Days Ahead has some lovely ironic details and lots of situation comedy. As Caroline begins to participate in classes, she develops friendships with the other women by trading comic recollections of their first indications of the indignity of aging. In another scene, one of Caroline’s daughters has a priceless reaction when her mother reveals that she has taken a lover.

Vernoux’s talent is evident in some neat visual reveals. In Caroline’s first sexual encounter with Julien in her car, the framing through the front windscreen shields the audience from their intimacy, but then Vernoux  cuts to reveal that they are in full view of passersby on the Calais promenade. Later on, Caroline sits on a bench with Julien and when he leaves on the right, one of her daughters enters the picture on the left.

We’re accustomed to seeing the driving passion of youth, but Vernoux gives us an entertaining though surface look at the needs and forgotten passions of the older woman. There was a lot of potential for a more provocative film, but Vernoux does not fully explore the boredom and grief. Instead, she opts for an all too-easy love story and upbeat ending