Paris-Manhattan

Paris-Manhattan (2012), written and directed by Sophie Lellouche, stars Alice Taglioni as Alice, a 30-something pharmacist in Paris who worships Woody Allen. Alice can't find the man of her dreams. (Well, she found him, but he married her sister.) So, instead of looking for another man, she spends her time watching Woody Allen films and talking to Woody's poster, which hangs on the wall in her room. (The poster answers back, using quotes from Allen's films.)

Of course, she finally meets that man of her dreams, but she doesn't realize he's the man of her dreams. He's not sure she's the woman of his dreams either.

There are secondary plots about the boyfriend of Alice's young niece, and about whether Alice's brother-in-law is having an affair. Neither subplot adds much to the film, but they keep the movie moving forward.

In a way, I'm surprised that I enjoyed this film as much as I did. However, when you have a movie that is set in Paris, a protagonist who is strikingly attractive, who quotes Woody Allen the way other people quote the Talmud, how can you not enjoy it?

We saw this film at Rochester's Dryden Theatre as part of the excellent Rochester Jewish Film Festival. It will work well on DVD. It's worth seeing, as long as you don't expect "Hannah and her Sisters," or even "Play it Again, Sam."

I don't watch a lot of foreign language film, because it's difficult to keep up with the subtitles. So you know that I must've been really interested in the subject matter, to watch this! And it was so worth it!

I love how lead character has my name, and basically all my characteristics! Movie geeks and obsessives for the win!! And anyone who loves Woody Allen and Cole Porter we'll see themselves in this movie.

Right when I was about to change my complete love for this movie into dislike, because of a sudden switch in the character, there was a surprise ending that made everything better!

The leading character is asked more than a few times why she likes Woody Allen, and she gives some half hearted answers, but if someone asked me what makes his movie stand out and his writing, I would say it's his choice of music, his love of romance, and the way he's a philosopher. He's just an optimist, and he sees things in a good light most of the time, in his movies, no matter how bad things get. That resonates with me on a deep level. Plus, just like the lead character, I do think he's cute, even though yes, I acknowledge he's a very controversial figure. But it's rare to find a man that has the same taste as you in things, and he does. Plus I wouldn't mind him narrating my life ha ha. I love his voice! Between him and Dick Van Dyke, they have my favorite male voices, and then James Garner is a third one.

This is a simple movie, very low-key, but pleasant, and It does make use of signs and synchronicity to show who the lead character should be with, and that is another thing that resonates with me on a very personal level.

Something that does not resonate with me is the relationship between the lead character's dad and herself. She has one of the best dad ever, and I love him!

This was very much like a fairytale! Like something right out of my dreams and wishes.

6/21/2025 update:

Just thinking - the way this movie relates to me must've been fate, because Woody Allen made a film called "Alice" also, which is my name. And he made another film called "Hannah and her sisters" - and I have a sister by that name!

Also, was reminded today that my Joan and Woody Allen have something in common too - not only is her manager Kenny Laguna often compared to Woody Allen, but Joan and Woody occupied the same seat at basketball games; Joan would be in that seat during the WNBA New York Liberty games, whereas Woody would be in that seat during the New York Knicks games. Out of all the seats in the stadium, what are the odds that my Joan and Woody would have the same seat?!

For that matter, the actress that portrayed Joan Jett in a movie, Kristen Stewart, was featured in a Woody Allen film - Café Society. Moreover, Elena Anaya, who has shared the screen with Kristen Stewart before, and who was featured in the TV show "Jett" also appeared in a Woody Allen film!

And let's not forget that Woody Allen did a miniseries starring Joan Jett's friend, Miley Cyrus, who inducted Joan into the rock 'n' roll Hall of Fame!

Clearly, for me, it's not all roads lead to Rome, it's all roads lead to Joan- even my man crush, Woody Allen!!.

You will watch the movie, and time will pass.. and the only thing you will remember is her. It's what makes this film fantasy.. no way this woman could ever go years without men constantly being on her trail. There is not a scene of which she is on-screen that you are not drawn to watch only-her... and you really don't care much at all what she is saying.. you are just there captivated.

In Paris, the pharmacist Alice (Alice Taglioni) has been an obsessed Woody Allen fan since she was fifteen and has seen all his movies and talks to him alone in her room. When she meets Pierre (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) in a night-club, she finds that he loves jazz and she believes he is her prince charming. But when Pierre sees Alice's sister Hélène (Marine Delterme), they immediately fall in love with each other and marry each other.

Years later, Alice is a spinster that administrates the pharmacy that belonged to her father (Michel Aumont) and believes that movies can heal many diseases. However her father insistently tries to find a husband for her. When the alarm technician Victor (Patrick Bruel) meets Alice, she does not see any future relationship with him. But one day, Victor brings Alice to meet Woody Allen in Paris and the director gives an advice to Alice.

"Paris-Manhattan" is a delightful French comedy and certainly cult for any fan of Woody Allen. Like the lead actress, I have watched all the movies of Woody Allen and my favorite is Manhattan (but fortunately I have never had a conversation alone with him like she does). When I started to watch the movie, I believed that it was a Woody Allen's film since even the letters in the presentation were very similar to his movies. But when Woody Allen himself appears on the screen, this was the greatest surprise I had. In the end, I loved this great little movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Paris-Manhattan"

"Paris-Manhattan" features a woman obsessed with Woody Allen, much like myself and many others are. She lives in Paris, works as a pharmacist, is single, spends her days discussing Woody Allen movies and spends her nights discussing her life with Woody Allen – meaning, a poster of Woody Allen. Luckily the film got the rights to Allen's movies, and he responds to her with things he has said before.

The beginning of the movie is the funniest with the poster version of Allen delivering all of the film's witticisms – meaning Allen's own witticisms from his own movies. We have laughed at them all before, but there's a reason we still watch them – they're still funny. He complains about life, complains about death and offers her zero constructive advice. But that's why we love him. The heroine, Alice Ovitz (Alice Taglioni), seems to get frustrated by that, but she's frustrated with her life in general.

She's in love with Pierre, but Pierre is married to her sister. Her sister is a lawyer and has a teenage daughter, while Alice is just a pharmacist working in their father's store, and gets sets up on dates by her parents, her sister and her perfect brother-in-law. Alice was a frustrating heroine. She would complain incessantly about being single but when someone would set her up on a date, she would try to assert her independence and say that she's a career woman with no interest in being with a man. She is, unfortunately, a terribly written character. And a movie dedicated to Woody Allen deserves much better.

The filmmaker definitely knows her Woody Allen, which is, of course, a must for a film like this. The film switches from a comedy of family entanglement to a romantic comedy to a comedic caper and back to a romantic comedy with ease just as Allen himself has done throughout his career. When Alice's romantic misgivings become tiring, the film switches pace to a mischievous comedic caper à la "Manhattan Murder Mystery" or "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion". It's too bad the filmmaker wasn't able to infuse any of her Allen knowledge into the main character. When somebody says to her that "'Manhattan' hasn't aged well" she argues back with "No." Apparently she has nothing else to say on the subject.

When the film switches back to a romantic comedy, Alice is now at the point where she has to move on with her life and so the Woody Allen poster comes down. Blaming him for her romantic rut. But he wasn't the one to tell her to idolize rich, handsome men who lie and cheat. But it has also already been established that she's a terrible character, so we just have to get past that.

But the good thing is, we can get past all that. First, Alice's romantic counterpart has a brilliant line about gods and the men Alice idolizes. And ultimately "Paris-Manhattan" is funny. It's a feel-good romantic comedy that also delivers an ending that all romanticists and realists alike dream about.