3.07.2008

2 Days In Paris (2007)

I'll come right out and skip to the bottom line: 2 Days In Paris just wasn't that good of a film. Sure, it started off ok. A couple of thirty somethings travel from NY to Paris, her country of origin. They're reasonably played by Adam Goldberg, and Julie Delpy, both seasoned actors. Yet, this film doesn't work really. What went wrong?

First off, from the title of the film I should get the grandeur of Paris. A well done film will use the title city almost as another character, full of vibrancy, a life of its own, depth, and famous views. However, I don't think we saw the Eiffel Tower once!

We also missed on more than the "postcard shots." Too much of the film was in French. Sorry guys, but in this age of DVD, there's no reason that we can't get an English only soundtrack. More than half the film is reading subtitles for these scenes that go on and on (and on). If I wanted to read a book, I wouldn't be watching the TV set.

Also, the plot is rather silly. These two go to Paris. Goldberg is this mostly neurotic guy that is rather implausible as he thinks he's getting sick from one raindrop. He wouldn't ever leave his apartment in NYC if he was that much a germophobe. The story is based around that Delpy's ex boyfriends keep showing up, just about at every turn. You start to wonder how committed to him she really is as the story progresses at a snail's pace.

Finally, the one subplot that could have been developed is when Goldberg gets mistaken for a thief. In one scene he's picked up by the French police, without his fluent girlfriend, and put in cuffs. This could have been ripe territory for some French prison scenes, or some interrogation with him not understanding the language. What did we get? Nothing! One scene he's in cuffs, and the next he's back on the street. What a letdown.

Was there any part of 2 Days In Paris that was worth watching? There was one cute scene when she brings her boyfriend in, he meets the family, and they have a dinner together as the parents talk about him in French, and their daughter loosely translates the dialogue. Unfortunately, it's really not worth watching a film for one scene.

Overall Grade: D+

Reviewed by Jonas
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