Sunday, September 7, 2008

A Word About.....

2 Days In Paris

A combination of lousy distribution and personal laziness prevented me from seeing Julie Delpy's 2 Days In Paris. Luckily, these days we have DVD, where essentially any film, no matter how small, can be seen long after it has perished in the theaters. Much like my discovery of In Bruges earlier this year, what I uncovered when watching this incredibly well-written comedy was a much more layered tale than I expected. The story of a couple who are constantly on and off the rocks, Delpy's first feature film is one of mastery.

We all know Delpy (and if you don't, you most definitely should) from her incredible work with Ethan Hawke in the Richard Linklater Before Sunrise/Before Sunset films. Delpy actually co-wrote the latter film with Hawke and Linklater, which adds no surprise to the fact that she wrote 2 Days as well. In one film, Delpy has been able to establish a style, likened that to Woody Allen with a much more provocative edge (remember how sexy Allen tried to be with Vicky Cristina Barcelona? Yeah, can't seem to forget it either). The dialogue is rabid, and brilliantly delivered, but most of all, just mannered enough to hold the sting of realism.

Delpy is the lead, and the film's narrator, and she plays Marion, who is--wouldn't you guess--a terribly insecure French woman, who is creeping up on middle age and doesn't seem to be able to find structure in her life or in love. Sure, she's been with Jack (Adam Goldberg) for two years now--a time she calls "forever, by today's standards"--but the two have just spent a disastrous trip in Vienna, where they hoped to rekindle their romance. Before heading back home to New York, the couple decided to take a two-day detour in Marion's hometown of Paris, where they live in her parents' apartment and run into a number of Marion's ex-boyfriends.

Goldberg plays Jack with a rather bothered, nebbish annoyance, and his sarcasm provides most of the film's comedic punch. It is Jack who has to deal with most of the film's roadblocks; the discovery of more and more ex-boyfriends, the rudeness of numerous Frenchmen, Marion's parents and their twisted sense of humor, and most importantly, Marion's growing impatience with life. Sure, the film has its moments of uneveness, and it can't seem to decide whether it wants to be from the point-of-view of Marion or Jack, but despite it all, Delpy creates a film that is hysterical, poigniant, and sincere. Showcasing a couple on the edge of a nervous breakdown, this film scores as one of the funniest comedies of 2007.

***1/2

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