One might assume that the original title of this French production was C'est La Vie. Wrong: the film was initially released as La Baule-les-Pins, then distributed to English speaking countries under a more "understandable" French cognomen. The film is set during a deceptively idyllic summer. Two young girls are fascinated bystanders as their parents' marriage dissolves and their mother takes up with a younger man. What might have been material for tear-stained drama in an American film is treated with perceptive humor in C'est La Vie. Director Diane Kurys cowrote the screenplay with Alain Le Henry.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide