PARIS-MANHATTAN
Directed By: Sophie Lellouche
Starring: Alice Taglioni, Patrick Bruel, Woody Allen
[Rating: 3/5]
Reviewed By: Stephanie Wong
Over the top, drawn out and mildly stimulating seems to be the dominating criteria for today’s romantic comedies. First-time director Sophie Lellouche tries to escape this status quo foxhole with her curt seventy-mine minute debut film paying homage to Woody Allen. However, the French director’s attempt to add some intelligence to her film with charming Allen allegories instead feels a bit cheap. An adorable cameo by Woody Allen himself is the only insert that barely helps lift the movie from the mere ordinary.
Paris-Manhattan is a rather silly whimsical take on vintage Woody Allen films that focuses on Alice Ovitz (Alice Taglioni), a dreamy pharmacist who is obsessed with the Manhattan director to the point where a giant sized poster of the man himself hangs on her bedroom wall and voices her advice, memorable quotes from his films nonetheless. Woody Allen informs every aspect of her life and in turn she tries to spread her infatuation to others, prescribing her customers with DVDs of his movies that she promises will fix up their ailments. Her family is fixated on setting her up with a man but no one seems to match up to her idol, especially not the pragmatic security mechanic who conveniently reappears in her life after their chance meeting at a mutual friend’s party.
In typical Allen style, Lellouche centers on dysfunctional family interactions. Chaos ensues in idealist Alice’s world when electrician Victor (Patrick Bruel) starts opening her eyes to the various underlying problems her family possess that had she neglected to realize. From a budding alcoholic mother, an exasperated father, a possible cheating brother-in-law and rebellious niece, Victor is the all seeing eye in uncovering the Ovitz clan’s many dramas. The pair’s constant bantering eventually sprouts a growing romance, leaving Alice to choose between the perfectly charming man her brother-in-law set her up with or practical realist Victor.
Plot-wise, Lellouche may win over some rom-com fans with her French flair but shouldn’t expect much love from die-hard Woody Allen followers. The tale lacks consistency and fails to further develop and account for the characters, leaving their affairs to appear almost ridiculous and too derivative to be comedic. On the contrary, technically, the cinematography is smooth and dependable and surprisingly, the musical score filled with jazzy numbers, is pleasantly reminiscent of Allen’s productions. In all fairness, for a first-time production Sophie Lellouche may not get critics’ nods of approval but lovers of cutesy romanticism will find Lellouche’s debut charming and find themselves tangled in a new love affair with the great City of Love and the admirable Woody Allen.
