2 Days in Paris (2007)

...and 2 more days of neurotic Frenchies

Genre: Romantic Comedy Drama (France, Germany)

Starring: Julie Delpy (An American Werewolf in Paris • Three Colours: White), Adam Goldberg (The Hebrew Hammer • Saving Private Ryan)

Directed By: Julie Delpy

Overview: A woman brings her American boyfriend to meet her family and friends in Paris. What should be a romantic sojourn becomes an awkward trip through many a foreign realm.

Squish hates Romantic Comedy. In fact, Squish has a graph of cinematic worthiness and as you can see, RomCom is only beat by Porn for worst place. 

So why in God's name would I subject myself to 2 Days in Paris, you ask?

First of all, I have a soft spot for female directors.  There's so few of them out there that when I learned that Julie Delpy completed her second feature as a director and it was playing at my local theatre, well that helped inspire me.

Second, I really like Adam Goldberg, that angry, neurotic, Gen-X Jew.

Thirdly and most importantly, I read that anyone who was expecting to see something like Before Sunrise or Before Sunset (Delphy's Romantic Dramas about a not-so-tawdry one night stand) would be sorely disappointed. Thank God because I avoided those like the Herpes.

I got exactly what I expected.  2 Days in Paris is the kind of Romantic film that a guy who hates Romantic Comedies will appreciate, even a guy who wasn't fond of 'guy RomComs' like The 40 Year Old Virgin or The Wedding Crashers (come on, seriously, over 2 hours?).

The reason 2 Days in Paris works so well is because it's a love story about people already in a relationship. That means instead of being subjected to the same old clichéd 'first impression moments', we're delving into the entertaining personalities of our characters. The most prevalent theme is Marion and Jack's lack of understanding towards each other, paralleled by the language barrier and occasional American derision that Jack faces in Paris at the hands of Marion's family and the endless list of Marion's exes. 

All good Comedies have their serious moments and 2 Days in Paris is no different.  Rather than simply putting two happy people in a 'day in the life' film, we're made to observe their relationship as it is painted into a corner with the unfurling of escalated white lies.

 
While Paris could not be reached for comment, medical examiners confirmed that she was indeed attempting a double-entendre when two 35mm reels of the film were found in a body cavity.

Performance: 9 Cinematography: 7 Script: 8 Plot: 7 Mood: 8

Overall Rating: 78% (Je T'aime)

Aftertaste:

It's a love story for my disillusioned generation, funny because it's just over the top enough with its quirky characters while still being real enough to make the humour all the more personal. My, it's almost like the characters were considered over the gimmick of a premise, what a concept.