Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

nunnybarry Pretentious drivel. How on earth did they manage to spend so much making this film? Absolutely nothing to recommend it - not even Jim and Jeff's great talents could drag it beyond the banale.

dwgrebstad Drawn to this movie by a trailer that seemed to indicate something funny might occur, I was disappointed to find this film weak, disjointed, patently illogical in many places and decidedly un-funny.The entire film seems to be centered on a disgruntled wife - why she is so we have no idea - and her "idiot" husband who is reduced in numerous cases to begging for sex only to have his wife deny him at the last moment. The film starts out promising only to nose dive into angst, rage, disappointment and confusion. If Paris was meant to be a character in this film, any lines it had were struck from the script 1/3 of the way into the film. The opening scenes seem to introduce Paris as not only the setting but a key member of the ensemble, after which it becomes an afterthought - the closing half of the film might have been set in Moscow for all the audience knows, except for only sparse allusions to itstill being Paris. Jeff Goldblum's character materializes out of nowhere and in a matter of seconds becomes an implausibly cult-like disciple of Jim Broadbent's character, at one point inanely screaming "I love you!" to the departing couple as they walk down a flight of stairs. It may have been my North American ears, but I have never watched a movie full of British actors where I have had such a hard time following what was said. Fully half of Lindsay Duncan's dialogue was incomprehensible to me. Don't watch this movie if you want to see Paris, have a laugh or pass an enjoyable night.

mwpm A new genre of film is emerging. Hollywood is trying to sell them as the offspring of "Roman Holiday", but in reality they are nothing more than extended tourism advertisements. Whether its Julia Roberts in "Eat Pray Love", Steve Coogan & Rob Brydon in "The Trip" trilogy, or Diane Lane in "Paris Can Wait", the protagonist is compelled to travel, and their travels are accompanied by sight-seeing and food sampling. Whereas "The Trip" trilogy is honest about its advertising, films like "Eat Pray Love" and "Paris Can Wait" try to veil it under a thin plot. "Le Week-End" belongs to the same category as "Eat Pray Love" and "Paris Can Wait". Like "Eat Pray Love" the couple of "Le Week-End" pursue travel as an answer to their problems (in both cases, the problem is an unhappy marriage, but whereas "Eat Pray Love" follows a middle-aged woman escaping their marriage, "Le Week-End" follows an older couple firmly trapped in their marriage and seeking rejuvenation). The audience is compelled to ask: "Why travel? Why not a marriage counsellor?" Ostensibly, they have chosen travel because they have watched too many film like the one they are starring in. The true nature of a film like "Le Week-End" is revealed in the scenes that forego character and plot development for the sake of sight-seeing and food sampling. These scenes always included impressive shots of the architecture (here the Eiffel Tower, there the Louvre). And, despite their lack of substance, they are drawn out and indulgent (Lindsay Duncan samples a glass of wine, turns to Jim Broadbent, says, "That's the nicest thing I've ever put in my mouth"). The couple (and the film) is finally rejuvenated by the arrival of Jeff Goldblum. Need I say more? In closing, I don't know why I expected more from "Le Week- End". It's a Hollywood film like any other, and Hollywood has been increasing the presence of product placement in its films ever since E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial increased the sales of Reese's Pieces. When we're watching a Hollywood film, let's not pretend we're watching anything other than an extended advertisement.

Franklie Oh my goodness. We wanted to give up on this movie the whole way through. It was slow and we had a hard time connecting enough with the characters to want to watch them. We understood their angst, but they weren't likable enough to want to devote 1h30m of our lives to watching. The language was below par and the screenplay was one annoying thing after another. We made the mistake of watching it on Netflix instead of DVD. On DVD we could have watched on fast-forward. BUT.. We really like these actors and we really liked the beautiful camera shots of Paris and throwing a Tom Petty song in there helped too, so we stuck with it. The story basically shows a double nervous breakdown and the last few minutes of the film were finally fun and lovely. We'd like to see what happens next in the story, as long as that story moves along a bit quicker and the language is more appealing.