Gilbert Melki and Catherine Deneuve in "Changing Times."

It’s fair to guess that American fans of French cinema will expect more from a new film pairing Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve than will the countrymen of these Gallic superstars. Even those of us dedicated to seeing every foreign language film in release haven’t seen much of them in recent years, certainly not like the late 1970s and 1980s, when Depardieu was as familiar a sight as any American actor. Discounting his generally ill-advised supporting appearances in American films, Depardieu hasn’t been seen in a starring role in the US since the 2001 comedy The Closet. Nor can I recall Deneuve on the big screen since 2002’s campy melodrama 8 Women.

That’s not to say, though, that they’ve reduced their workloads in recent years. Deneuve has been in 15 films since 2000, Depardieu in an astonishing 35. So when Les Temps qui Changent first appeared in French moviehouses, there may well have been some prospective filmgoers who sniffed, “Oh, not them again,” and moved on to see if there was anything new out with Audrey Tautou or Mathieu Kassovitz. Those of us who had higher hopes for Changing Times, as it is being called here, are in danger of having those hopes dashed.

The premise sounds like a good idea for a tale of amour fou, particularly the kind directed by Depardieu’s frequent collaborator Betrand Blier: A man tries to win back the woman he loved and lost 30 years ago. Instead of Blier, though, Changing Times is a film by Andre Techine, a rather more subtle filmmaker not prone to emotional fireworks.

In Tangiers, French engineer Antoine (Depardieu) arrives to spend six months supervising the construction of a state-of-the-art broadcast station, one meant to compete with Al Jazeera in the Arab world. At least, that’s what he’s being paid to do. His real reason for accepting this assignment is because Tangiers is the home of Cecile (Deneuve), his first love, whom he hasn’t seen or spoken to in three decades.

You will forgive me for revealing something the film itself doesn’t make clear for 20 minutes or so. In that time, we watch the domestic travails of Cecile: Her gay son Sami has arrived home for a visit, along with his female roommate Nadia and her nine-year-old son. He wants to hook back up with an estranged lover, while Nadia wants to visit the twin sister she hasn’t seen in six years. Everyone seems to blame the family’s lack of cohesion on Cecile’s husband Nathan (Gilbert Melki), a Moroccan doctor with a failing practice (though I couldn’t help but suspect that his business might do better if he spent more time at the office and less in the swimming pool).

Yes, you may be asking, but what about Antoine and Cecile? Don’t worry, the film gets back to them. As Antoine is taking his time, agonizing over how to win her back, he accidentally meets her in public under rather embarrassing circumstances. It is immediately apparent—to us, if not to him—that she has not been spending her time since the 1970s waiting for his return. She doesn’t seem to care about much of anything at all, really, aside from her son.

Assuming that the title must offer some sort of clue as to what Techine is on about, Changing Times is apparently concerned with the differing ways in which people change as the years pass. None of the characters who are in relationships seem to be happy in them; characters yearn to be with someone who doesn’t share the intensity of their feelings. It would be going off the beam to read Techine’s film as saying that love stinks, but he certainly doesn’t depict it as a bed of roses.

What it comes down to is that Changing Times is worth seeing to the extent that you enjoying watching the two stars, who do solid work. They even get to play a bit against type, Depardieu moony and depressed, Deneuve hardened and icy. The other story threads are not uninteresting, but they seem merely distracting next to the ways in which Techine could have developed the central relationship. It’s a film that rewards lowered expectations.