Rencontre à Wicker Park

In Chicago, the former photographer and presently advertising executive Mathew (Josh Hartnett) is closing a business in a fancy restaurant with a Chinese representative, when he sees a woman that looks like his former passion Lisa (Diane Kruger). Two years ago, Lisa and Matthew had a love affair, and Lisa simply vanished when Matthew invited her to move with him to New York, where he had the invitation for a better job, and Matthew is still obsessed for her. Matthew decides to follow Lisa, and when he meets her, he realizes that Lisa is indeed another woman (Rose Byrne) with the same name. Matthew stays in Chicago with his friend Luke (Matthew Lillard) and decides to investigate the mystery.

On 16 October 2005, when I first saw this remake, I wrote the following review:

Although having a confused screenplay and too much coincidences, "Wicker Park" is a reasonable tale of obsessive love. The script, with many flashbacks, has many flaws and coincidences in a huge city like Chicago. The character Daniel is badly developed and disappears from the story, without any explanation whether he killed his wife or not, how he involved with Lisa and their relationship. The two lead actresses (Diane Krueger and Rose Byrne) are extremely gorgeous and together with Josh Hartnett, they show a great chemistry and make the romance work. The music score is great, and in the end, this film is a good entertainment. My vote is six.

Yesterday (08 March 2011) I saw "L'Appartement" (1996) for the first time and now I have a totally different opinion:

"Wicker Park" is a shallow and corny remake of a great French film. The screenplay resolves some points that are not clear in the original movie, but the adaptation of the story is developed in fast pace and loses the mystery and the romance of "L'Appartement", forgetting details and characters.

The worst of this remake is the detail of communication. "L'Appartement" is a 1996 film in Paris, meaning neither cell phones nor e-mails were available at that time. Therefore, communication was based on phone booths or letters. This remake takes place in Chicago and the characters have cellulars. This single premise would be enough to destroy this remake. But the screenplay writer needs to provide explanations and give a happy ending, destroying the puzzle and discussions about the European film.

Comparing the two films, I dare to write that "Wicker Park" is a "fast food" and "L'Appartement" is a refined feast. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Paixão à Flor da Pele"("Passion Near Skin")

well went to see this movie at it's screen test, where at the end, we had to answer some survey questions about the movie. before going in to see the movie, i thought it would be just another romantic movie but i was soo wrong...

the pace of the movie was just right...with flashbacks and character intro and perspectives on certain situation during the movie was quite interesting to see, plus how the story unravel very much satisfied me as it was totally unexpected...just amazing, plus the camera works/effects just so cool to watch...

i must say this is not your usual love story and it sure will appeal to all movie-lovers and it's just amazing!

This movie was one of the most unique films i have seen in quite awhile. I really liked the way it was portrayed. It was a very good storyline, from the previews it almost seemed confusing but it wasn't confusing at all.

The scenery was excellent. It was a top notch performance on everyones part. It kept you guessing until you didn't know what to think. It was a thriller, yet had a comedic spark here and there with a twist of romance and a dazzle of drama. It was by far one of the movies that stick out this year that i've seen. Josh Hartnett played his role so well, and the 2 females i wasn't really familiar with their work but they did a fantastic job as well as Mathew Lillard.

Wicker Park Pretty much keeps you guessing the whole time.When your watching the movie you would think you have it all figured out you'll be surprised how wrong you could be.This is one of the best movies i've watched this year. The most entertaining movie i've watched this year is most definitely this one it actually keeped me guessing up till the end.Even though this is to be a physcological thriller it is also funny here and there and is also kind of sad.With this said Wicker Park is definitely worth your money.This is not really a family movie but it's good and with Josh Hartnett in it even better.Don't wait to long to watch it,you'll like it.

It was a lazy Sunday night and the only movies playing were Wicker Park and Super Babies Baby Geniuses 2. Well, I picked the film with a more attractive cast.

After about the first thirty minutes of Wicker Park I was laughing because it seemed like this was the most absurd movie I had ever seen. However, as the film progressed the laughter subsided and intrigue ensued. By the last thirty minutes of the film I was hooked. When it was over, I was surprised that a movie that had started out so poorly ended up being one of the better films I have seen in a while.

If one sees this film, I recommend he/she be patient. I found the overall experience, despite the bad beginning, to be quite good.

4/5 stars