Marital Pasquier is a broken man — or so he seems on the surface. He's actually just trying to make some sense of his life, though it's hard to put his own desires ahead of the expectations of others.

As "A Few Days With Me" opens, Marital is about to embark on a journey to do just that, though even he doesn't know it yet.

The film begins with Marital's release from a Paris sanitarium. His mother brings him home and indicates she's anxious for him to get back into the family business, a very successful chain of grocery stores.

Meanwhile, Marital's wife, who has been having an open affair with one of Marital's business partners, virtually ignores him. The marriage is over, but since it was apparently one of convenience to begin with, they are reluctant to speak of divorce.

Soon Marital finds himself on a business trip, a tour of several stores in various cities. But on his first stop he finds some discrepancies that give him pause.

While looking into them he socializes with the smarmy store manager, an old friend of his late father's, and finds himself attracted to Francine, the manager's maid.

Soon Marital has abandoned his trip and set up housekeeping with Francine in this small town. She is intelligent enough to know it can't last, but he's too charmingly inert to ignore. And though he is jealous, he tries to give her freedom to have her own life.

"A Few Days With Me" is a rather schizophrenic film, the first half being mostly a social comedy with some hilarious sequences, especially a centerpiece that has Marital bringing together people from several social strata for a zany dinner party.

But the second half gets more serious and even includes a murder as it attempts to bring together, through extremely convoluted means, Francine and Marital.

For me, this is where it falters. Had the film stayed on its eccentric path to light comic romance, it might have achieved enormous success. But instead it seems to derail itself and become less interesting. (It is also way too long for this material, well over two hours.)

Still, the film is loaded with characters that have richness and are well-acted by a terrific cast, in particular the leads — Daniel Auteuil, the ugly, scheming nephew in "Jean de Florette" and "Manon of the Spring," and especially Sandrine Bonnaire, best known for her award-winning role in Agnes Varda's "Vagabond."

Enjoyable, but ultimately unsatisfying, "A Few Days With Me" is rated PG-13 for violence, discreet sex, brief nudity and some profanity.