2 Days in Paris (2007)

Wonderful character development!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Actually if you think of it, is more than two. But that is a theme that runs through the movie. The free spirited female and the more constraint male. But you can't fault one or the other. It is human emotions that run their daily lives. And it is that, that makes them vulnerable and also causes quite a lot of problems. It is also the source of many of the dialog. Dialogue that tries to be very deep and succeeds in doing so quite often.But while it is philosophical you do wonder if every relationship is as talky as this. Which brings us to the inevitable comparison to the "Before ..." movie series. Also staring Julie Delpy. She has that role pigeon holed and likes to rattle on some relationship standards. Or even male/female prejudices. The french family on display here, does add to the humor, if you're not getting too annoyed here. A sequel came out to this, that follows Julie furthermore, but more of that in "2 days ...."

I think all people who believe in love should see it! So gracious, so full of humor and wits! This is not at all a pretentious, intellectual movie, neither is commercial. The image is so natural, about how a little more than average gifted people see the world. And I like what they see. Good image, good scene and costume design and in accordance with the simple philosophy of the movie. And the actors are so good! Every character has the right actor, they make you believe in their reality. Another good think is the way the film tackles one of the most embarrassing things that happen in a relationship, when you discover all kind of things about your girl/boyfriend or vice-versa and you don't know how to come out of there. It makes one feel better.

Director Richard Linklater shared writing credits on "Before Sunset" and "Before Sunrise" with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, the actors who played the couple at the heart of his two romantic masterpieces.Flash forward several years and we have Julie Delpy starring in, writing, directing and scoring "Two Days In Paris", an unofficial sequel to Linklater's films.Utilizing Linklater's "walk and talk" technique, the film replicates Linklater's story about a European girl and an American guy sharing intimate moments whilst on a holiday in Europe. She's a Parisian and he's a New Yorker, and as they spend a weekend in her home town we eavesdrop on their conversations, listen to their anxieties and chuckle at some moments of light culture clash comedy.Linklater's duology primarily appealed to young males, but Delpy's, despite utilising a similar style and structure, is a distinctly female thing (on IMDb, females also rank this film higher than males). Her character, with black-rimmed geek glasses and a personality akin to a semi-neurotic or hypochondriac, is your artist's typical self-depreciating view of him/herself. In contrast, her love interest is a gorgeous but sensitive stud, who gets his penis out on screen for the audience. He is squarely the tale's object of affection, whom Delpy punishes herself for not deserving.And so eventually our couple begin to grow apart. Delpy throws in much castration symbolism (a photo in which soaring balloons are mirrored to flaccid genitals being the most obvious one) and subplots about performance anxiety, but it is not her partner who cannot perform, but she who desires to make him anxious. Scarred by previous relationships she retreats from commitment and sabotages her chance for love.Beyond the romance, the film delights in poking fun at both Americans and French. The various tourists and characters whom our couple meet whilst on their holiday convey the impression that all Americans are ignorant and repressed whilst all French are racist snobs. But the private behaviour of our couple cast a complex light on these issues. He may be repressed, but he's trustworthy and longs for commitment. She may be your typical liberated, bourgeois artist, but her inhibitions stem from deep scars.The film is too clumsy and too reliant on gross out humour to compete with Linklater's sensitive romances (and the films of Eric Rohmer, whom Linklater seems influenced by), and its final act doesn't resonate as well as it should, but "2 Days In Paris" is nevertheless an excellent film, featuring two well written characters who speak with refreshing frankness.8/10 – Worth one viewing. Makes a good companion piece to the romances of Linklater, Cassavetes, Rohmer and countless equally good indie romances like "A Little Stiff", "In The City of Sylvia", "All The Real Girls", "In Search of a Midnight Kiss", "Say Anything", "Keith" etc.

I'm a pain in the arse. I liked the scene in this film where Dad Delpy is "keying" the cars that are parked on the sidewalk. Adam Goldberg tells him to run for politics but I like the directness of keying the cars. It puts the power into the peoples hands and out of politician's hands and it saves time. Even though I would never do it. Better to throw eggs. Sure, that means you have to walk around with eggs in your pocket but there's always a price, right?The baffling thing about this film is that Julie Delpy is writing about two neurotics where the girl is a self-centered liar. How odd.In the scene where they are kicked out of the restaurant, her character IS being unreasonable and SHOULD be kicked out.Goldberg says more than once that he knows she's had sex with other men, but why does she have to lie about it? She has a personal voice-over where she acknowledges that it's OK to lie about things if you probably won't be discovered.In the end, the couple seems to stay together because they are too tired to move on to the next drama. In fact, if she'd stop lying, they'd have a pretty good relationship.This is a cute movie for it's nice grasp of family life, past sexual history (where Mom once did Jim Morrison) and idiot cabdrivers. All of the actors were funny and- there was a shot of the mini (?) "Statue Of Liberty" in Paris and I thought they were back in New York and I was disappointed.This is a good movie but one where Delpy casts a woman (herself) as the "bad guy" in the relationship. Is she a saint or something? It's so rare to see a woman intentionally casting herself as flawed. Kind of refreshing.