A doctor, Colin, played by Hippolyte Girardot, mentions to his wife, Kathryn, engagingly acted by Sabine Azéma, that a patient and friend has only about six months to live as a result of fatal cancer. She worms out enough information to realize it is a close friend named George Riley, and spreads the news. Jack (Michel Vuillermor), who considers George his closest friend, is shaken by the fatal prediction. Jack’s wife is played by Caroline Silhol.

The third couple in the mix is Monica, George’s estranged wife, played with bewildered complexity by Sandrine Kiberlain, now living with a retired farmer, Simeon (André Dussollier).

We never do meet George, but in the course of meeting the others, we learn a lot about George, those who knew him and his relations with the women in the picture. This George, it turns out, is quite a guy.

The screenplay bristles with witty remarks and situations, and the cast members are all at the top of their game, as is Renais’s direction. Assorted surprises occur along the way even though we may have our advance suspicions.

What’s more, while Resnais works from the wisdom of age, his style has a youthful esprit. Instead of elaborate sets, there are English countryside exteriors, where the film is set, with the action then zooming toward amusing drawings of particular locations, which turn into simple interiors or outdoor segments. The style adds to the jaunty look of the film and underscores its moods.

Nearly all of the characters whom we meet are in the process of rehearsing a play for local community theater, with their egos on display as the personal is mixed with the theatrical. Step by step George figures into their lives, including that of one couple’s spoiled daughter, Tilly (Alba Gaïa Kraghede Bellugi), given a lavish party celebrating her 16th birthday.