SYNOPSIS:
The sequel to Spanish Apartment (2002). Five years after their
summer together in Barcelona, Xavier (Romain Duris), William
(Kevin Bishop), Wendy (Kelly Reilly), Martine (Audrey Tautou)
and Ishabelle (Cecile de France) reunite for a wedding in
St. Petersburg, their carefree days behind them, and now close
to thirty. Xavier is a struggling writer who dreams of having
the perfect career and the perfect woman. He is still in touch
with his ex-girlfriend Martine, but is living with Isabelle,
now a successful gay stockbroker. When he has to find a British
writer to work with him, he goes to live and work with Wendy
in London. Dividing his time between London and Paris, where
he is ghostwriting the memoirs of a sexy and spoilt 24 year
old supermodel, Celia (Lucy Gordon), Xavier struggles with
his attraction to both women, slowly realizing he must grow
up.
MOVIE
REVIEW
For
some of us, watching foreign flicks is as good as traveling
the world. This sequel to the popular French comedy The Spanish
Apartment (2002) brings us on a picturesque trip around Europe
within its 125-minute running time. Not only are the scenes
pleasures to the eyes, its stars are pretty to look at as
well. Following
their little adventure five years ago, Xavier (the endearing
Romain Duris, who is giving a fine performance now in Jacques
Audiard’s The Beat That My Heart Skipped) is now a 30-year-old
adult with an unfulfilled life. The struggling writer continues
his search for the perfect woman in St Petersburg, Russia.
And what an adventure he has, hooking up with girls from past
and present, and beat this – different nationalities!
Like all
French films, this one boasts of some genially fantasy sequences
which will make you smile at their brilliant execution. And
you will not gawk at these scenes’ unrealistic settings,
because of how fun and aptly beautiful they are. Look out
for the scene where Xavier’s imagination goes wild,
when three Xaviers appear in the same shot, each playing the
recorder or doing a cute little dance. It is one delightful
sequence that will stay with you for quite a while.
For the
dreamers, this film would appeal as well, given Xavier’s
ghostwriting career, where he chronicles the memoirs of a
sexy supermodel. Add this to the slew of women he meets along
the way, and any hot-blooded young male viewer would wish
that he is the one on this trip in St Petersburg.
If you
have not gone to Europe, this film would make you want to
go there on a vacation soon. The streets, apartments, nightspots
and architectures gorgeously shot, and complemented with melodious
European music – it will leave you enchanted.
The cast
gives a good performance, and their wistful characters will
engage you in the movie as well. Audrey Tautou’s brief
appearance will be well-remembered, while Cecile de France’s
role as a successful gay stockbroker leaves a lasting impression.
Her amusing performance earned her a Best Supporting Actress
win at the 2005 Cesar Awards.
For those
unfamiliar with the pacing of whimsical French films, this
one may be a bit difficult to follow, given its many characters
and close to two hours runtime. Besides, some may not care
too much about the characters because they are just too many.
But
look beyond all that, and you would have a fun trip around
Europe. And if you are fine with just looking at images on
the screen, you do not even have to step out of the house
or pay for a plane ticket to enjoy that.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
visual transfer is just fine, with audio options of English
Dolby 2.0 and English Dolby 5.1.
SPECIAL FEATURES
No extra features are included in this Code 3 DVD. It would
have been nice for the filmmakers to bring us around Europe
more though.
MOVIE
RATING:
 
OVERALL
DVD RATING :
Review
by John Li
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