[image-4]Published February 07, 2008.
2 Days in Paris
Directed by: Julie Delpy
(20th Century Fox)
Jack (Adam Goldberg) and Marion (Julie Delpy) have been together two years. On their way back to New York from a Venice getaway, they stop in Paris to visit Marion’s parents and pick up their cat. Since deep down, nobody (except my grandma) wants to watch a movie about a happy, romantic vacation, in 2 Days in Paris, Delpy’s feature-length directorial debut, we see Jack and Marion’s unhappy moments and the character flaws causing them—Jack’s jealousy, and Marion’s tendency to bend the truth and get into public confrontations with cab drivers and ex-lovers. Does being in Paris put extra strain on the couple, or is their relationship already broken? Moreover, do we care? (Answer: kinda.) The wacky pratfalls that inevitably befall fish-out-of-water Jack are mercifully toned down—the scene where he’s mistaken for a purse-snatcher is a notable exception—and both characters are mostly likeable. The film is talky and character-driven (Delpy’s a three-time Richard Linklater collaborator, so that’s to be expected) but its chatter is adequately interesting and Delpy’s crafted some beautiful lines. Describing how break-ups work, Marion muses, “then we’ll slowly think of each other less and less, until we forget each other completely—almost.”
Lindsay McCarney
This article appears in Feb 7-13, 2008.