Catherine Deneuve has long been a French national treasure, and in a new movie, “The President’s Wife,” the icon plays a woman of similar status: the former first lady of France, Bernadette Chirac.

Madame Chirac is played by an actor who needs no introduction, the legendary Catherine Deneuve. Few actors give better face than La Deneuve. She works wonders with merely a glance, a glare ...