2 Days in Paris

If this was rubbish, we would be calling it a vanity project. But, luckily, Julie Delpy is not only a good actor, but a fine writer and director. There are elements of 'Amelie' and the classic Woody Allen comedies such as 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan', particularly in Adam Goldberg's neurotic response to the chic scruffiness that is Paris. This film has things to say about the Franco-American culture clash, but says them in a gentle and affectionate way. Until you've been to Paris, it is difficult to realize just how much in love with all things American the (urban) French actually are... until they encounter it face to face, when they find it so baffling that the only recourses are sarcasm and irony, in addition to lapsing into French spoken so fast that even some French speakers find it incomprehensible. There is also lots to say about relationships and how they work, or don't. If you are in a relationship, you will cringe with recognition. If you aren't, you will wonder whether you really ever want another one.

From a study of the movie poster, you might be tempted to think this is another pointless romantic movie about two lovers in France. "Oui," they will fight, love, eat croissants and find meaning. How drearily cliché.

But, surprise of surprises, "Two Days in Paris" is a very funny, very soulful and very interesting look at a slice of the life of two quite interesting characters. On the surface, Marion (Julie Delpy) and Jack (Adam Goldberg) are two irritatingly pretentious neurotics. Both 35 and childless, they have been traveling Europe for 2 weeks, deciding to stop in Paris for a couple days to drop in on Marion's family and friends before flying home to New York. Marion is French, the child of left-wing French artists. Jack is a New Yorker, a political lefty whose shallow grasp of culture (he speaks only English, for instance) is purely American. She had aspirations to be a photographer, though (for reasons the film will make clear) her work is strictly third-class. He takes pictures of everything, but has no eye for form, color or composition.

What's fun about the film is the complexity of the relationships. To Jack's annoyance, Marion keeps bumping into her old boyfriends. And her father seems intent on humiliating or offending him and his American tastes. A dinner scene in which he is offered a rabbit's head is just hilarious. When offered carrots, he says, "So, we're going to eat the bunny's food, too?" For her part, Marion cannot understand why Jack finds her continued casual friendships with exes to be so extraordinary. And Jack, utterly clueless about the nuances (or even the surface content) of Marion's conversations, is getting paranoid that he is not being told everything. At one point, Marion is holding a violent argument with a racist cabdriver. Jack knows something is going on, but can't get past Marion's insistence that everything is fine.

I realize as I write this that I am doing no justice to the joyful sense of voyeurism that the film affords.The film is so smartly written and fast-paced that sometimes you forget you are watching a film and think you are watching dinner with Julie's real family or attending parties with her smug and artsy friends. The film is completely convincing and has a depth of heart I didn't expect. It deal with secrets and the frustration that comes from knowing another person. The language and culture barriers then act as metaphors for the inability of two people, even lovers, to inhabit another's life and experience.

"Two Days in Paris" is not for all. Marion and Jack are exemplars of the worst aspects of US and European artistic classes. Their treatment of a group of Americans on a "Da Vinci Code" tour tells you more than you want to know about the antagonisms between right and left. But their smug, knowing put downs of Bush and Cheney supporters are less political messages by the movie makers than markers of the characters' personalities. This movie about liberals does not necessarily espouse their world view. But, at heart, this is a love story, not a political drama. Secondly, since we are talking about shallow artists, there is an enormous amount of politico-sexual "art" on display in the film. While this may be offensive to the audience, its presence helps to define the characters themselves. It's not there to titillate the viewer, but to describe the actors.

Delpy, who wrote, directed, produced and acted in the movie, has made a master work that is complex, evocative, real and quite beautiful. She has captured aspects of the French national character that seem quite convincing. She has also aptly captured the emotions and dilemmas of 30-something adults who, under it all, are still looking for meaning, belonging and peace. Goldberg gave a powerful and hilarious performance. He's Ben Stiller with a soul.

If you can put up with the film's politics, you will be amply rewarded. Magnifique!

What is it with Julie Delpy? I have only seen a hand-full of her movies but she always manages to surprise and excite. She acts brilliantly as the title character in Tarantinoesque Killing Zoë, manages to stay convincing in the far-fetched An American Werewolf in Paris and is great as a young lover in Before Sunrise and as a confident woman in the sequel Before Sunset. This brings us to 2 days in Paris which could easily be mistaken for a continuation of the Sunrise/Sunset movies. And that would be a huge mistake: 2 Days in Paris is a dialogue driven romantic comedy dissecting a couples quasi-dysfunctional relationships and how they have to come to terms with their individual imperfections to be able to truly coexist as a pair. Though that may not sound like compelling viewing its actually hugely entertaining as it dissects a million small mix-ups which can make or break a couple.

Adam Goldberg is compelling as the sarcastic yet witty American boyfriend visiting Paris for the first time with his girlfriend. What follows is a series of hugely entertaining misunderstandings involving cross cultural differences, hilarious conversations in broken French with family members and a series of unplanned rendezvous with former lovers all of which combine to drive him high up the paranoia ladder.

It's refreshing to find out that not only does Julie Delpy act brilliantly as the naive and clumsy Marion but she also directed and wrote it, heck she even composed the soundtrack.

The lasting message of this movie is although you might hate 80% of the things your lover does if you just cant live without them don't lose them

This is a somewhat romantic comedy about a french-American couple spending two turbulent days living with her parents in Paris.

My expectations were fairly low when I was coerced into watching Julie Delpy's directorial debut. After the first couple of minutes (and arguments between Delpy and Goldberg, respectively) I was still skeptical. But by the time her (real life, by the way) parents were introduced, things got really hysterical and I was holding my sides laughing throughout the rest of the movie. It has to be said that most of the jokes are sexual in nature, so this is no film for the young or easily offended. There are also moments where Delpys character is a little annoying, but those are thankfully far and few between. Similarly, I approved the brevity of Daniel Brühls appearance. Special mention has to go to Adam Goldberg, however, whose antics lend the movie the lion's share of its funny moments - I certainly hope to see more of him in the future.

It's a pretty small sub-genre of films, in which Julie Delpy plays an irritating European, wandering round a European city in the company of an even more annoying American. But Delpy, who starred in Richard Linklater's 'Before Sunrise' and its sequel, has now made a film of her own in a similar mould. Fortunately, it's not as self-regarding as Linklater's films, but it isn't funny enough to really work as a comedy, and if it's characters are a little less unlikeable, they're still not really interesting, being too self-consciously eccentric. Delpy tries to paint a picture of the reality of a mature relationship; but it doesn't really work when the protagonists have the emotional development of teenagers. I sincerely hope the genre goes no further than here.