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Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Albert Dupontel, François Cluzet ... see more see more... , Karin Viard , Gilles Lellouche , Mélanie Laurent , Zinedine Soualem , Julie Ferrier , Olivia Bonamy , Maurice Bénichou , Annelise Hesme , Audrey Marnay , Xavier Robic , Farida Khelfa , Suzanne Von Aichinger , Marco Prince , Kingsley Kum Abang , Judith El Zein , Emmanuel Quatra , Nelly Antignac , Joffrey Platel , Renee Le Calm , Sabrina Ouazani

Love and life pose dilemmas for a handful of friends in the City of Lights in this romantic drama from French filmmaker Cedric Klapisch. Pierre (Romain Duris) has enjoyed a successful career as a danc... read more read more...er performing in Parisian nightclubs, but when he's diagnosed with a serious heart condition, his doctor warns him that the strain of his work could kill him. Pierre must reinvent his life, and as he ponders his future and his mortality, he turns to his sister, Élise (Juliette Binoche), a social worker and single mother, for help. Élise is facing some life changes of her own; she's tired of being alone, and has developed an infatuation with Jean (Albert Dupontel), a grocer who sells his wares in the city's open-air market. But Jean is recently divorced and is still preoccupied with his former wife, Caroline (Julie Ferrier). Pierre also finds himself falling from afar for a lovely college student named Laetitia (Melanie Laurent), but he has a rival for her affections in Roland (Fabrice Luchini), one of her professors, who is considerably older than her. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

66% liked it

20,158 ratings

Critics

68% liked it

63 critics

R, 2 hr. 8 min.

Directed by: Cédric Klapisch

Release Date: February 8, 2008

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DVD Release Date: March 10, 2010

Stats: 1,033 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,033)

  • hunterjt13
    February 13, 2011
    hunterjt13
    Generally, I judge films like Paris against the "Altman Standard." If the film comes close to linking the characters in the clever and interesting ways that Altman accomplished in Short Cuts, then it works for me. And Paris attempts to reach for the Altman ... read moreStandard, despite the fact that the title would lead one to believe that it is attempting an homage to the city in the vein of or New York, I Love You. Here we have a brother and sister dealing with the former's life-threatening illness, a gang of fruit-mongers seeking sex/love, and a professor obsessing over a student. But thrown in haphazardly and failing to connect to the other stories in substantive ways are a racist baker and a group of African would-be immigrants. It is with these stories, tangentially related but ultimately unnecessary, that the film fails to reach the Altman Standard.
    Additionally, I detected a degree of misogyny in the film's portrayal of women. Most of the men go through complex existential crises, but with the exception of Elise, played by the always charming and lovely Juliette Binoche, and possibly Caroline, the women in this film are either flakes or sluts.
    Overall, Paris is a good film, but it falls short in a couple key areas.
  • romy861
    January 8, 2011
    romy861
    Liked the beautiful shots of Paris more than the actual story. It was okay, but it really wore out it's welcome at over 2 hours.
    Good cast and made up of quite a few characters whose lives overlap. Some of the characters more interesting than others.
    Fans of French films will l... read moreike this, but I wouldn't recommend it to appeal to all.
  • deano
    May 18, 2010
    deano
    Charming, chic and quintessentially Parisian. Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris and supporting Melanie Laurent make the charming performances in this full-drama, emotional and inspiring ode to Paris because I know them well in their latest foreign-language arthouse films.
    Dir... read moreector-writer Cédric Klapisch has done something marvelous here, a film full of ideas and humanity, yet one that somehow enables us to engage with and care for so many complex characters without ever having to resort to stereotypes. It's a great achievement ? and a glorious movie about that city to which we must all return in our dreams: Paris.
  • neverteaseaweasel
    May 3, 2010
    neverteaseaweasel
    I was not totally sure how much I was liking Paris until the film was over. Storywise, there really is not anything. The movie is all over the place and really does not make much sense. Every scene is secluded and impressionistic; but very deeply felt. That is what really stood o... read moreut to me, the sheer emotional impact every scene carried. In many ways the film is incredibly depressing and pessimistic, but there is still a glimmer of hope, the promise of redemption. This is not a film to look back upon and remember the story, or the cast, or any of the details. The only thing that is enduring is the emotion. That is enough to make for an extreamely good movie, but, personally, as much as I loved it, I think the film needed a bit more of a backbone. Paris is a long movie, and you would completely justified in saying that it is boring, but, with an open mind, it is worth watching. It will, gently, and with the utmost sensitivity, crawl under your skin, tickle your heartstrings, make you laugh, make you cry.
  • gator681
    January 26, 2011
    gator681
    "Paris" starts with a shot of two of France's national treasures - the Eiffel Tower and Fabrice Luchini.

    You know you're in trouble when a little old lady is faster than you going up a flight of stairs. That is especially true for Pierre(Romain Duris) when he is diagnosed wit... read moreh a critical heart condition, badly needing a transplant. His sister Elise(Juliette Binoche), a social worker, takes some time off work and even moves in to take care of him. But bringing along her brood is probably not going to help much. The only thing that does makes him feel better is looking out on Paris from his balcony, especially when the beautiful Laetitia(Melanie Laurent) is in her apartment across the way. But she has other things on her mind, like Roland(Fabrice Luchini), her history professor, who is secretly sexually harassing her via texting. Roland is actually quite depressed these days with his father dying and selling out to television. At least, he can celebrate his brother Philippe(Francois Cluzet) about to become a father for the first time.

    While "Paris" has a certain amount of charm and a good cast, there is also no denying that it is too long and something of a mess that is literally all over the map. There are scenes in Cameroon which like much of the movie links tangentially, instead of being part of an organic whole. The market is a fine starting place but many of the characters are given little time to establish themselves, which leaves the movie primarily to Elise and Roland. Both are linked by common themes of loneliness with death hanging over everybody, as if the next time could be the last in a city where the new is constantly replacing the old and nobody tragically has any sense of history.
  • danieljparsons
    June 6, 2010
    danieljparsons
    Despite the heartache, accidents and unhappiness, I would live in this film if I could. Cédric Klapisch's Paris brilliantly and subtly intertwines vignettes - characters from across the city and beyond, scratching below their surfaces to explore their desires, regrets, hop... read morees. It has a wide scope, yet always feels intimate. It's a love-letter to the city, yes, but is not overly idealistic and though the city looks picture-perfect beautiful, that doesn't mean the people who inhabit it aren't miserable, numb, or angst-ridden. Pierre, as played by the always fantastic Romain Duris, is not un-ironically the heart of the film. Suffering from a serious and life-threatening condition, he lives through others - walking to his balcony on freezing cold mornings he looks down at the city below and imagines what lives the people in cars, on park benches and behind partially closed blinds must lead. Of course, over the film's length there are reunions, shared understandings, loves found and lost, and purposes renewed or reinvigorated. Despite the familiar trajectory Paris continually feels fresh, even when indulging in such clichés as the affair between a professor with a midlife crises and an aspiring student, or a soon-to-be father who wonders if his life was all it was meant to be. A lot of this is down to an exceptionally good cast who generally keep things understated, some stunning photography and skilful editing, and a truly sublime music score. By the time the perfect ending rolled around, I was truly captivated.
  • Parannoyed
    August 10, 2009
    Parannoyed
    Waaaaay too long for what could easily have been just over one hour long.
    Images are crystal clear and absolutely breath-taking, though.
    Romain Duris owns this film. Apart from his performance, this remains rather bland for my taste.
    Superb ending, although I'm not sure it's b... read moreecause I was eager to finish the film or because it actually was, indeed, poetic and inspiring.
    Briefly, this only inspires mixed feelings in me.
  • catlyst
    December 17, 2011
    catlyst
    Stellar cast and good performances especially by the siblings, but it was luchini's naughty monologues that stood out. The use of architectural 3d animation was surprisingly funny too.
  • Ghw12158
    August 16, 2011
    Ghw12158
    a little long and a little disjointed it should be a movie about paris but instead its a movie about some characters in paris would have been better to focus more on the city and less on them!
  • ac2010fz
    August 28, 2010
    ac2010fz
    I've always enjoyed Cedric Klapisch's movies. Paris features a superb cast with couple simple and interesting story-lines. At parts I felt the differences between these story-lines(with some details of the narrative style) loosen the unity of the Parisians' story as a whole. Over... read moreall, pleasant, and I liked the ending alot, though I thought it ended a bit abruptly.

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Critic Reviews

Peter Rainer
October 2, 2009
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

When it comes to being a fool for love, there are no city limits. Full Review

Steven Rea
October 1, 2009
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Perhaps it's time for a moratorium on movies where the trajectories of various people intersect, often portentously, across the tableau of a big city. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
September 30, 2009
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

The French director Cédric Klapisch is a glib wizard at weaving folks together, but there are too many secondhand characters roving through Paris, his latest ensemble piece. Full Review

James Berardinelli
September 28, 2009
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Paris keeps us involved not because of momentous plot developments but because the production incites our curiosity to see what will happen next. Full Review

Michael Phillips
September 25, 2009
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Writer-director Klapisch's glossy love letter to Paris, and its yearning, beautifully lighted inhabitants, may not be much, and you may not even believe in its emotional and (discreet) carnal complica... Full Review

Cary Darling
September 25, 2009
Cary Darling, Dallas Morning News

Klapisch, who shoots Paris with the eye of someone rapturously in love with the town, is less interested in the reality than the romance.

J. R. Jones
September 25, 2009
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

Soggy stuff from French director Cedric Klapisch. Full Review

Ty Burr
September 25, 2009
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

If Paris feels like an Altman film in structure, it lacks the late filmmaker's bite, not to mention his genuine curiosity about human beings. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
September 25, 2009
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Klapisch captures the bittersweet quality of those human contacts that seem to hold promise, but life goes by too fast for them to take root. Full Review

Roger Ebert
September 24, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Every character has life and depth. It's unusual for an episodic film to involve us so well in individual lives; as the narrative circles through their stories, we're genuinely curious about what will... Full Review

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