| Product: |
Two Days In Paris (DVD) |
| Date: |
13.02.08 (118 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A great comedy romance
Disadvantages: Its not Before Sunset/Sunrise
Julie Delpy writes, directs, produces and stars in her latest film, a sharp snappy little romantic comedy set in her native France.
Marion (Delpy) and Jack (Adam Goldberg - Saving Private Ryan) have been together for two years. They live in New York and are stopping off in to visit Marion's parents in Paris on the way back from a holiday in Venice.
Two Days In Paris is the story of those two days. Jack is meeting Marion's parents for the very first time and, being a typical New Yorker, is a bag full of neuroses. These are enhanced by the two of them continually meeting old boyfriends of Marion everywhere they go leading to the question can their relationship survive the meeting of parents and old flames in the same two days?
2DIP is, in everything but name and characters, a further sequel to the brilliant Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, also starring Delpy. You get the feeling that Delpy wrote this with that in mind. Even the timeline from those films fits in with this, well depending on your thoughts about the ending of Before Sunset.
Delpy plays a very similar character to her BS one and the look, feel and mood of this film fits in exactly with the two Linklater gems. From direction to script Delpy obviously learned a lot from working with Linklater, and 2DIP also makes you realise how much she and Ethan Hawke must have put into the script for his second film because there are so many similarities to it.
This though can be a double edged sword, on the positive side it makes 2DIP a very watchable and enjoyable movie, with its naturalistic dialogue and the very realistic feel to it all.
On the downside it leads to the obvious comparisons with Before 1 & 2 and they are such fabulous, near perfect films that it will always be a loser when compared. Goldberg is nowhere near as good an actor as Hawke and Delpy is nowhere near as good a director as Linklater.
This is not to say she is bad, far from it. Some of the shots in the film are just wonderful and all the cast are a pleasure to watch.
I liked 2DIP but I am not sure that is because of how much I love the two Before movies and the comparisons between the two. Is it a good film in and off itself? I'm not sure I can really say, everything makes me want to say yes though. All the characters are great and the chemistry between Delpy and Goldberg is very good. They seem to work well together and this does help you believe in them and their story. Bad chemistry between two leads who are meant to be in love can so easily ruin a film where the relationship is everything. The bickering and other little touches between the two of them comes across as very realistic.
Marians' family are an amusing bunch, especially her father (played by Delpy's real father), a Frenchman with outspoken views on pretty much everything. A couple of scenes where he is ranting about something or other make a nice sidebar to the romantic comedy that is the main basis of the movie.
There is also a very amusing little scene where Goldberg meets up with a group of fellow Americans on a Da Vinci Code expedition that possibly sums up the attitude of the French towards the book and the hype that has built up around it.
2DIP is a gentle comedy about relationships and family with a smattering of jealousy thrown in for dramatic tension and overall it is a joy to watch, its only real disadvantage being that I would much rather watch either of the Before films again, if I was in the mood for this type of film, than sit and see this again. From me that is a very big compliment though as, like I have said, they are amongst my favourite films ever.
Summary: A great film that probably deserves a better rating
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