Alice Taglioni does a very good impression of Woody Allen in the romantic comedy Paris-Manhattan now playing in theaters. The cute little film uses the famous actor’s views on life from several of his films to work out a plot that should satisfy most of Allen’s fans and incurable romantics. Sophie Lellouche does a fair job in her first attempt at directing her own script, but for creative reasons her film never reaches a level more than average.
The movie centers on Alice (played by Alice Taglioni), a winsome woman who has her mind set on getting the most out of life in spite of her weakness (no it’s more of an obsession) for the wisdom of Woody Allen. Most of her important decisions are decided by what Allen would do in her position and in most cases she avoids any chance in meeting the right man. So much so, her father (Michael Amount) hands out her business cards to prospective gentleman that even closely resembles who his daughter should have as a husband. Although very intelligent and learned Alice has not achieved a lot on her own and works for her father at a local pharmacy.
On one occasion she meets Victor (Patrick Bruel) at a party and although she seems uncommitted he takes an interest to her. Alice’s father turns the Pharmacy over to her upon his retirement from the business and she buries herself in keeping it a success and as part of her business she loans out Woody Allen films to her customers to help cure their ills. Her sister Helene (Marine Delterme) introduces her to Vincent (Yannick Soulier) a very handsome friend of hers and in spite of what “Woody Allen” thinks she starts an affair with him keeping Victor at bay as a friend. When Victor discovers a glitch in Alice’s romance, he tries to take matters into his own hands.
Paris-Manhattan has a very good cast with a lot of experience yet the hackneyed story told many times in different circumstances tends to be too familiar to entertain. Even with the addition of the Woody Allen advice, the movie isn’t creative enough to make up for the predictability and the gratuitous twist leading to the unsurprising ending.
I could go on about the beautiful cinematography and the gorgeous sets, but this is not one of those flowery films that can use the film making techniques to make up for its flaws. I commend Lellouche for her attempt to create a romantic comedy from her writings that tend to show a window in her life, but it’s just another movie that doesn’t rise about average that only incurable romantics will love.
Paris-Manhattan has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA and does have some scenes that may be inappropriate for younger children. The film is presented in its native language of French with English subtitles. I recommend that you wait for the DVD unless you understand French, so you can slow down the subtitles.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Not my cup of tea or baguette in this case. [rating=3]
Additional Film Information:
- Cast: Alice Taglioni, Patrick Bruel, Marine Delterme, Michael Amount and Yannick Soulier)
- Directed by: Sophie Lellouche- directorial debut
- Genre: Romantic Comedy, Foreign
- Language: French with English Subtitles
- MPAA Rating: PG-13
- Running Time: 1 hr 17 min
- Opening Date: May 3, 2013
- Distributed by: Outsider Pictures
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
