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!

"Wicker Park" has the feel of a romantic thriller. The previews make the movie a lot more sensational than it really is. It makes the female protagonist Alex appear like a psycho/stalker/murderer when in effect she is just a more extreme female version of the male protagonist Matt (Josh Hartnett). The plot long story short is about a guy (Matt) who finally catches a glimpse of his lost love Lisa in a restaurant. Two years ago she completely disappears from his life without explanation. She runs out before he has a chance to reunite with her right then and there. Meanwhile Matt is also being chased after by Alex, Lisa's "best friend". The movie parallels how Matt searching around for Lisa is like Alex lying and manipulating in her attempt to steal Matt away from Lisa. Except in the end Lisa returns Matt's affections whereas Matt doesn't not return Alex's feelings. This movie is sweet and nostalgic and that is what covers up all the plot holes. Plothole number one is a shot of Daniel, Lisa's ex standing outside of her apartment watching who he thinks is Lisa (Alex pretending to be Lisa)taking Matt to bed. Someone as jealous as Daniel would later on confront and beat the hell out of Matt but no, this is false foreshadowing as we never ever see Daniel in the film ever again. The second is not so much a plot hole as a criticism. For someone as scheming as Alex how long did she think she could pretend to be Lisa to Matt when she is also seeing Matt's best friend Luke? Obviously eventually they will all meet and Matt will find out the truth. And that is what happens in the film's climatic conclusion. Luke bumps into Matt and finally introduces him to Alex in the same restaurant we started out in the beginning. Everything comes out and Matt sees that Alex screwed her best friend over and pretended to be her in order to steal Matt. The very end is so touching when Matt and the real Lisa finally see each other you could see the pain and longing leaving their eyes as they finally reunite. I would recommend this movie for the touchy-feely emotions it will leave you with but be warned like I said its not perfect with all it plot holes.

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.

I really like Diane Kruger, but Monica Bellucci in the original is terrific. It's certainly not a coincidence that the name of the restaurant in Wicker Park where Josh Hartnett overhears Diane Kruger's conversation is named Bellucci's!! That's real respect. The french version is full of comedy, this American remake has next to none. It's worth getting a copy of "Le Apartment" if you enjoy this.