‘One Woman or Two’ (PG-13)

The ploy of mistaken identity is as old as theater, and as likely to be used for tragedy as for comedy. French writer-director Daniel Vigne explored the dramatic possibilities in the historical "The Return of Martin Guerre" and in his new film, "One Woman or Two," he turns once more to the amiable Gerard Depardieu, hoping for a modern film that will be hysterical. It's not, but it's funny enough, and genial in the way French comedy tends to be.

Depardieu portrays a shy archeologist who has uncovered the bones of France's first lady (no, not Danielle Mitterrand, but a 2 million-year-old fossil). He quickly becomes obsessed with "Laura," reconstructing her according to computer projections. Needing more funding, he must woo a rich philanthropist, the mysterious Mrs. Heffner, about to make her first visit to the dig site. But when Depardieu goes to pick her up at the airport, he winds up with Sigourney Weaver, a model and ad exec avoiding her own obsessed lover by pretending to be Heffner.

From then on, it's a question of people working at cross-purposes: Depardieu and his colleagues wheedling for francs; Weaver envisioning "Laura" as the centerpiece of a major new perfume campaign; the somewhat demented lover relentlessly pursuing Weaver; villagers involved in skull-diggery; and of course the eventual arrival of the real Mrs. Heffner, portrayed by Ruth Westheimer in her film debut. Truth be told, the idea of Dr. Ruth in a film is better than the reality, simply because she'll never be anything but Dr. Ruth. That's amusing enough, of course, especially when she walks (and Dr. Ruth walks just like she talks, even when she's talking in French), or when she plays a scene standing up between the seated Depardieu and his assistant and their heads are all at the same level.

Luckily, the two women of the title are Weaver and "Laura," not Westheimer.

Despite the tripartite billing, this film clearly belongs to Depardieu and Weaver. It's not hard to understand why the beefy Depardieu is France's most popular actor. He's a rakish yet cuddly version of Jean-Paul Belmondo, kind of a combination shaggy dog and puppy dog. So despite his magnetic presence, one is inclined to accept his fixation on dem old bones instead of the ones to which Weaver's flesh is still attached.

Weaver, looking much more svelte and attractive than she did as the machine-gun toting Ripley in "Aliens," speaks French credibly, but she doesn't seem all that comfortable acting in a second language, or in a comic style. For his part, Vigne keeps the various subplots moving along, with most of the laughs coming out of situations that have some probable counterpart in real life. "One Woman or Two" is being described as a "screwball comedy" but it's really just another breezy Gallic tribute to Hollywood's more innocent past, which makes a sudden diversion into social commentary at film's end a little awkward. But by then you'll be charmed.

"One Woman or Two" is rated PG-13 and contains some nudity and a few expletives that are deleted in the subtitles.