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SYNOPSIS:
"2 Days in Paris" follows two days in the relationship
of a New York based couple; a French photographer Marion (Delpy)
and American interior designer Jack (Goldberg), as they attempt
to re-infuse their relationship with romance by taking a vacation
in Europe. Their trip to Venice didn't really work out--they
both came down with gastroenteritis. They have higher hopes
for Paris. But the combination of Marion's overbearing non-English
speaking parents', flirtatious ex-boyfriends', and Jack's
obsession with photographing every famous Parisian tombstone
and conviction that French condoms are too small, only adds
fuel to the fire. Will they be able to salvage their relationship?
Will they ever have sex again? Or will they merely manage
to perfect the art of arguing?
MOVIE
REVIEW
Julie Delpy's 2 Days in Paris is easily the most
wittily literate and delightfully intellectual romantic comedy
I've had the please to see since Richard Linklater's 2004
winner Before Sunset. Considering she helped co-write the
screenplay (along with the director and costar Ethan Hawke)
this probably shouldn't come as too big a surprise.
The
film's strength is ultimately also its largest potential problem.
With such a low-key style, any movements away from plausible
reality call attention to themselves. It's hard to buy that
Marion would meet so many of her ex-lovers on the streets
of Paris (it is, after all, not a small town). Some of the
characters also descend quickly into stereotype territory,
which does not meld with the heartfelt leads. While Linklater
weaves coincidence and imagination into the very core of his
films, Delpy is trying to accomplish something different here,
and it doesn't always work. We become too distracted by the
crafting of the film itself, and it never becomes as invisible
as she would like it to be.
All
that said, this does have the unmistakable feel of a pleasant
little throwaway diversion and nothing else. There isn't anything
transcendent about it, no glorious effervescent complexities
that take Delpy's film into the same magnificent stratosphere
Before Sunset ascended to. But the picture is still remarkably
fun to watch, and anything that can make me smile as much
as 2 Days in Paris is a cinematic vacation I'll treasure pretty
much without reservation.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
For an independent film, the production values
are quite good. The picture is mostly sharp and with good
color saturation. Picture transfer is excellent, with very
little accidental grain, no blurs, or edge enhancement. This
film is 95% talking with hardly any noise to speak of so there
is not much to ramble about for the audio section.
MOVIE
RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Lokman B S
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