Le divorce

The performances are terrific, Kate Hudson proves that she is the actress that Goldie Hawn never was, and it is always good to see Leslie Caron looking her age and looking great. Now, the matter of the plot has been raised and the consensus so far is that it is a bag of clichés dumped into a blender and then poured out on film.

True. But, the book was no great shakes either and the screenplay simply has not risen above its origins.

I enjoyed Le Divorce for its cynicism and its predictability, frankly. It is nice every now and then to see a movie that elicits a sour chuckle rather than a guffaw or a shriek, and this is one of them.

James Ivory is not exactly a politically orientated film maker, but it took some courage, and it was a politic message releasing a film about Americans living in Paris, and the culture clash between American and French in 2003. Although his film is more about family relations and cultural perception, it says a lot about humans being more important in the relations between two nations than their leaders politics.

Not that the relations in the film are that soft. I know quite well both American and French mentalities, and I appreciate the ironic mirror this film puts in the faces of the two peoples. There is certainly a certain dose of stereotype in the approach, but still the characters are well built, they act with logic most of the time, and some good acting from a bi-lingual team

helps a lot. Paris is still the best location to pick for a film ever. The plot is a little bit too long, and the end suffers from hollywooditis, but overall it is a satisfying cinema experience. I do not like the romantic genre too much, but it was better than I expected. 7 out of 10 on my personal scale.

...because I LOVED this movie. I read the other reviews and I'm astounded. I think this is a great movie. I received the DVD for free, and was so pleasantly surprised by the acting, the scenery, the humor, the exaggerated French snobbishness. I thought Kate Hudson glowed, carrying most of the movie. I loved the lingerie store scene, where the French women giggled over Isabel being "le petite" when she showed them her chest. I loved how Naomi Watt's character was perpetually scowling until she met the handsome divorce lawyer, and visibly fell in love at first sight. Glenn Close was wonderful as the graceful, well-aged American writer, clearly bitter about her being dumped by Edgar, but over-compensating with sarcasm. I loved the scene in the police car, where they were going to investigate a murder, and got side-tracked by the police women's perfume. There are so many wonderful nuances that make this movie great, I don't even care that the plot was muddled and non-existent. It's visually wonderful to watch, and the acting is superb. It's the kind of movie girls like to watch on a weekend, doing their nails, just relaxing. It moves slow, but it's additive and I've watched it more than I'll admit...

I think this could have been an interesting film. Instead, it shows the French as being close-minded, rude and arrogant with no concern about other people's feelings. The American sisters are annoying in their lack of backbone. Instead of standing up for themselves or each other, they simply lie down and let husbands, boyfriends and in-laws humiliate them. Their last name should be doormat. The scenery is both beautiful and breathtaking. The restaurant scenes gives us some insight on the French artfulness of food. Dining is not just a daily routine but an adventure of taste, color and texture. Even when insulting, the French language is a pleasure to hear. Sadly, the bad heavily outweighs the good in this movie.

"Le Divorce" fails. Despite the beauty of the locales and the talent of the lead actors, the director couldn't decide if this is a Parisian comedy or an adult tale of marital discord gone horrifically askew.

The interaction between the two female leads is good-half-sisters and true soulmates. But their romantic and marital complications come too fast with too little depth and the film is on a train wreck in the making.

And suave, affluent, cheating Frenchmen are a stale staple of these movies. Nothing new or interesting here.

Too bad.

4/10.