It's known as the fashion capital of the world, used to be called Gay Paree, and has the nicknames of the City of Lights and the City of Love. Accordingly, Paris has also been the setting of countless films, ranging from those that use it simply for the glorious and interesting backdrop it provides, as well as others that play off one of the above characteristics.
The latest is the appropriately titled "2 Days in Paris," the apparent labor of love project for Julie Delpy. For she not only stars in the film, but also wrote, edited, scored, directed, and produced it, has her real-life parents appear as her character's parental units, and reportedly even cast her pet cat in the film (talk about a raging case of nepotism).
She might as well have cast both Ethan Hawke and Woody Allen it as well, as their spirits are unmistakably present. The former is due to being associated with her for having co-starred with Delpy in "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," two films where the characters walk around Vienna and Paris and discuss various matters, including romance.
The latter is evoked because of a similar reason, although he's never appeared in a film with the actress.
Instead, many of Allen's films had the same format of two characters trying to sort out their romantic lives with the backdrop of a major cosmopolitan, metropolitan locale as the canvas on which they paint their story. And considering that he and various members of his troupe often played neurotic types, including hypochondriacs and jealous sorts, the characters here would feel quite at home in one of Allen's films.
In this one, Delpy plays a Parisian expatriate who lives with her boyfriend, played by Adam Goldberg (in another bit of art imitating life, he's her former beau), in New York, and is a professional photographer despite being afflicted with a condition that limits her eyesight. Meanwhile, he's an interior designer, resident hypochondriac, bitter critic of others, and, as it turns out, a fairly jealous sort.
The latter comes into play when the two end up spending a two-day stopover with her parents (fairly exaggerated archetypes, though they only elicit a smattering of worthy laughs or chuckles) in Paris before returning to the Big Apple from their Italian vacation. There, he must not only contend with them and his weak grasp of the native tongue, but also her former lovers who start coming out of the woodwork like termites hungry for another bite (a convenient representation of the "small world theory" discussed in the film).
To no one's surprise (certainly not to any viewer who's seen any related movie before), that doesn't do any favors for their relationship that's already rocky at best. What then follows is the two chatting about all of that, themselves (including their obvious political leanings, which are quite left in this instance), and their affinity or lack thereof.
While Delpy's dialogue is fine (although nothing to write home about, which also holds true for her and Goldberg's performances), the fact that we've seen these sorts of people before up on the screen, don't have any particular reason to care about them, and can't help but notice the lack of any sort of palpable chemistry between them (either good or bad) means the end result is only a mediocre experience.
Perhaps sensing some or all of those problems, Delpy has added various directorial flourishes to the film in hopes of sprucing things up from the otherwise talky and staid trappings. With quick cuts and quirky material, it has something of an "Amelie" vibe to it. Yet, like the rest of the film, it lacks the charm to make it work as well as it should and could have.
Even so, this is a Woody Allen sort of film at heart, but while it follows the formula (including all of the neuroses scurrying about the big city backdrop like rats searching for their next meal), it doesn't quite capture the magic of Allen's earlier and best pics. "2 Days in Paris" thus rates as just a 5 out of 10.
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