Two Days in Paris Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

2 Days In Paris

At first glance multi-hyphenate Julie Delpy’s debut as writer/director looks like nothing so much as Before Sunset part 2. Both star Delpy alongside an American man (Here Adam Goldberg) and both are Paris set rom-com with a defined and very limited timeline. The first glance is deceptive. They are completely different films, most notable among the differences being that only one of them is a masterpiece… and it’s not this one.

Delpy contributed to the wonderful screenplay for Before Sunset and here she continues to show that she’s a good writer. The screenplay is fast, funny and full of good lines. Casting the film with family and friends also pays off; the dynamic between Delpy and her parents works beautifully on screen and you have to wonder just how close the characters as written are to real life.

As Jack and Marion Delpy and Goldberg are, individually, excellent. Goldberg gets the lion’s share of the best lines and he hits with just about every joke, even some improvised throwaways (“I’m a huge Val Kilmer fan”). Delpy gets more of the dramatic side of the film to play and she does it well; she’s an admirably natural actress and the dialogue seems not as if it is scripted but as if it has just occurred to her in the moment. The problem with the film arises in seeing Jack and Marion as a couple. These people don’t even seem to like each other, let alone to be in love. That’s easy to understand because neither of them is at all likeable. Marion is simply irritating, making an argument whenever and wherever she can and Jack is a shockingly whiny hypochondriac who complains about everything. I dislike these people and thus, frankly, I couldn’t have cared less about their relationship.

The pedestrian direction is something she’ll have to address before her next film; Elizabeth Bathory biopic Countess, but ultimately doesn’t take much away from this film as it doesn’t demand much visual flair.

I understand why Julie Delpy made this film; it feels absolutely like she’s done something familiar both as a way to get money to make a film and as a gentle introduction to working behind as well as in front of the camera but while Two Days in Paris is funny enough that I was generally entertained it is ultimately unengaging because the relationship just doesn’t work

Worst film ever

I have never been so bored in all my life. Would not recommend this film to anyone. Thank goodness I did not pay to see it in the cinema.