Search - Two Days in Paris on DVD

Paris can be "Hell" for Lovers.

G. Merritt | Boulder, CO | 01/18/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hollywood would have us believe that Paris is for lovers. In Sabrina, Humphrey Bogart's character says that he has never been to Paris because Paris is for lovers. In Casablanca, his character Rick reminds Ingrid Bergman, "We'll always have Paris." However, in her smart wonder of a film, 2 Days in Paris (2007), Julie Delpy suggests Paris isn't always for lovers--that Paris can be "Hell" for the wrong couple. (As the saying goes, it doesn't matter where you are, but who you're with.) Delpy's 2 Days in Paris is ultimately a reality lesson in incompatibility.



Best known for her roles in Europa Europa, Three Colors Trilogy (White), and Before Sunrise/Before Sunset, Delpy wrote, directed, edited, co-produced, and composed the soundtrack for 2 Days in Paris. The film stars Delpy and her former real-life love interest Adam Goldberg, as well as Delpy's parents, Marie Pillet and Albert Delpy. Delpy plays a quirky Annie Hall type character, Marion. She is a French photographer who pays a two-day visit to Paris with her neurotic, New York, Woody-Allen type boyfriend, Jack (Goldberg). From the film's opening scenes, despite their shared sense of humour about such things as DaVinci Coders and Bush supporters representing all that is culturally and politically wrong with the U.S., it is obvious Marion and Jack are having relationship issues. The film is about what happens to Marion and Jack when their already-strained relationship is further subjected to Marion's parents and to Marion's numerous old lovers. For Jack, the City of Lights illuminates qualities in Marion that he has never noticed before. He wonders, is she a bohemian like her parents? Is she a whore? Clearly, this is a couple that does not belong together. While 2 Days in Paris is neither Before Sunrise nor Before Sunset (both of which I highly recommend), it is nevertheless an equally intelligent film (rich in dialogue and subtle scenes), which raises many interesting questions about relationships one rarely finds in Hollywood romantic comedies. One wonders, what has kept Jack and Marion together for the two years since their first date? By the end of the film it is reassuring that, unlike Bogart and Bergman's characters in Casablanca, Marion and Jack won't always have Paris. For them, two days in Paris was enough.



G. Merritt"

Hilarious, Sexy Romp About A Star-Crossed Young Couple in Pa

John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 12/30/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Julie Delpy demonstrates in "Two Days in Paris" that she's a fine, rather witty, film director, in much the same mode as her mentor Richard Linklater, and, surprisingly, Woody Allen too. Indeed, both directors are truly apt comparisons with her cinematic debut as a film director, since she possesses both an uncannily good ear for superb dialogue and utmost confidence in directing. While I recognize a superficial similarity to Allen's "Annie Hall" with this film, another, maybe more, apt comparison is with "Hannah and Her Sisters", with more emphasis on slapstick, screwball comedy from Delpy. Indeed, in a little more than an hour and a half, Delpy offers a hilarious romp through Paris as seen through the eyes of Marion, an American-based French photographer (Delpy), who introduces her Jewish-American boyfriend (Adam Goldberg) to her idiosyncratic, bohemian parents (brilliantly portrayed by Delpy's real-life parents: Albert Delpy and Marie Pillet).



This film succeeds as a series of nonstop screwball episodes, in which Marion and her boyfriend meet up with several former lovers and other male companions who still remain interested in her. The film's highlight is the zany rabbit dinner in which her father grills her boyfriend about French culture and literature; that scene alone is well worth the price of admission of the film itself. In the short span of two days and one night, the young lovers make some unexpected discoveries about themselves, which promises for both a most uncertain future. "Two Days in Paris" was one of the most delightful films I saw this year; I strongly suspect that it will be quite appealing to those interested in screwball comedies and Julie Delpy's cinematic oeuvre."

Brilliant

Jesse F. Paxton | Norwalk, California USA | 06/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A comedic play in two languages. French and English, European and American attitudes, pop history and modernism, neuroses and silliness combine marvelously in this hilarious "small" movie. A jewel in the rough streets of Paris."

Delightful and hilarious

Dahlias | Durham, NC | 08/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is witty and subtle. The humor is a little crass, but in a good way. Julie Delpy is a very talented actor and director."