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Acting
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Directing
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Story
Starring: Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg, Daniel Brühl
Director: Julie Delpy
Running Time: 101 mins
2 Days In Paris is a French film about a couple who return from a failed romantic weekend in Venice to Paris, where the local culture and both of their individual quirks puts their relationship to the test.
I rather liked this film. With actor-director Julie Delpy building on her involvement in Richard Linklater’s gorgeous Before trilogy, 2 Days In Paris is both intimate and enjoyable, as Delpy takes a lighter look at the many challenges of love and relationships.
It’s easy to look at this film and just think it’s an easy rehash of the Before movies. After all, it’s a dialogue-heavy story which focuses heavily on the ups and downs of a romantic relationship based around a major European city. However, those similarities are largely superficial, and what Delpy is trying to say with this film is different to Linklater’s classic trilogy.
In 2 Days In Paris, we’re thrown into the middle of Delpy and Adam Goldberg’s seemingly passionate yet dysfunctional romantic relationship. The pair’s individual idiosyncrasies make them pretty unbearable at times, but there’s a light-hearted, comical edge to this film which makes their always faltering love life rather enjoyable to watch.
2 Days In Paris isn’t about the fleeting nature of love, nor the unique bond between two people. Instead, it’s a real-world account of the thousands of things that can derail a relationship. From one half of the couple’s extreme hypochondria to another’s long list of ex-boyfriends, from the cultural differences between their two backgrounds and to the overbearing family members at home, the film gives a light-hearted yet still honest window into those countless problems.
And it’s that light-hearted approach that really makes 2 Days In Paris such a strong film. After all, this film could have been really quite depressing had it not looked at itself and laughed a little, but Delpy seems to be having so much fun looking at the inevitable failings of a relationship and all the little issues that come with it.
Delpy’s charisma on screen is as wonderful as it was in the Before movies, and while Adam Goldberg is hardly her equal, he does portray that irritating neurosis which plays its part in crippling their relationship from the start very well.
What’s more, being in charge of directing, editing, music and more, Julie Delpy does a fine job of making 2 Days In Paris a really enjoyable watch. It’s not just her viewpoint on the story that makes the film so strong, but also an eye-catching style that sits pleasingly as something not too serious but not too silly.
This is a film to make you laugh, smile and also think about love and relationships. It’s certainly not the transcendent perspective on love that Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy was, but nor is it meant to be. It’s touching in its honest portrayal of real relationships, and it’s just as funny in the way that it shows just how chaotic love in the real world can be. So, that’s why I’m giving 2 Days In Paris a 7.5 overall.
