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Le Divorce (2003)
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Reviews Counted: 132
Fresh: 50
Rotten:82
Average Rating: 5.2/10
Consensus: A mixed bag of uneven tones that feels flat.
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: When two American sisters become caught up in the intimate intrigue of Paris, cultures and human passions collide - and the result is a comedy of manners and morals, money and marriage, sex and sorority that sheds incandescent light on what... When two American sisters become caught up in the intimate intrigue of Paris, cultures and human passions collide - and the result is a comedy of manners and morals, money and marriage, sex and sorority that sheds incandescent light on what it means to be an American abroad. LE DIVORCE follows the journey of Isabel Walker (Kate Hudson), a quintessential young Californian newly arrived in the City of Light to visit her pregnant sister, Roxeanne (Naomi Watts). A darkly romantic poet, Roxy has just been jilted by her scoundrel husband, Charles-Henri de Persand (Melvil Poupaud), and it appears they are headed for "le divorce." Meanwhile, Isabel leaps into l'amour with a married French diplomat (Thierry Lhermitte) who happens to be the uncle of Roxy's soon-to-be-ex. As scandal ensues, the American idealism and irrepressible spirit of the Walker sisters comes up against the French sophistication and stubborn rationalism of the Persand family. Complicating the two families' relations is a painting in Roxy's possession that is discovered to be worth millions of dollars. And then, quite suddenly, a crime of passion disrupts all the scheming and culture clashes - and opens up new possibilities for understanding. Based on the best-selling novel by Diane Johnson, LE DIVORCE is a new twist on the classic American-in-Paris theme. At a time when French and American cultures have seemingly never been more embattled, LE DIVORCE reveals the rich complexity of the two cultures - and their compellingly different attitudes toward morality, sex, food, fashion, and the very pursuit of life. But at its core, LE DIVORCE is really about its irrepressible heroine, Isabel Walker, who arrives in Paris to help her sister - only to discover her own desires and viewpoint on the world. LE DIVORCE is directed by three-time Academy AwardŽ nominee James Ivory (THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, HOWARDS END, A ROOM WITH A VIEW). Two-time Academy Award-winning writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (A ROOM WITH A VIEW, HOWARDS END) and Ivory adapted the script from Johnson's novel. The film is produced by four-time OscarŽ nominee Ismail Merchant and Michael Schiffer. The award-winning cast of LE DIVORCE includes Kate Hudson (ALMOST FAMOUS) and Naomi Watts (MULHOLLAND DRIVE), as well as Jean-Marc Barr (BREAKING THE WAVES, THE BIG BLUE), Leslie Caron (GIGI, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS), Stockard Channing (SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS), Glenn Close (DANGEROUS LIAISONS, FATAL ATTRACTION), Romain Duris (PEUT-ETRE, GADJO DILO), Stephen Fry (GOSFORD PARK, WILDE), Thomas Lennon (HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, A GUY THING), Thierry Lhermitte (THE DINNER GAME, SEVEN SUNDAYS), Matthew Modine (SHORT CUTS, THE SHIPMENT), Bebe Neuwirth (TADPOLE, SUMMER OF SAM), Melvil Poupaud (THOSE WERE THE DAYS, LA FILLE DE 15 ANS), Nathalie Richard (LE VENTRE DE JULIETTE, MAINTENANT) and Sam Waterston (THE KILLING FIELDS, I'LL FLY AWAY). [More]
Starring: Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Leslie Caron, Stockard Channing
Starring: Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Leslie Caron, Stockard Channing, Glenn Close, Stephen Fry, Thierry Lhermitte, Matthew Modine, Bebe Neuwirth, Sam Waterston, Melvil Poupaud
Director: James Ivory
Director: James Ivory
Screenwriter: James Ivory, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Producer: Ismail Merchant, Michael Schiffer
Composer: Richard Robbins
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Reviews for Le Divorce
Veers erratically between sugar-coated romance, broad farce, and risible melodrama.
The movie is least successful when it tips from semi-serious to too-serious.
Its annoying need to be witty, profound, funny, and charming at all times makes what could have been a smart comedy a tiresome exercise in pleasing its audience.
At the end when we should be thinking about love and lessons of maturity, we are left with Isabel shrugging off her latest mistake and charging headlong into who-knows-what.
I saw this AFTER I watched Gigli, and it's STILL the worst film I've seen in the last twelve months.
...the ending does nothing to dispel the feeling that one has just wasted 117 minutes of one's life on empty gestures.
[E]ven fans of the filmmakers will be hardpressed to consider this one of their great ones.
...[T]here is such an availability for space in which to work...dramatic or comedic, that Ivory leaves the living room floor open...without ever actually filling it.
Emerges as one of those concoctions in which the ingredients prove tastier than the finished dish.
A polished, if inconsequential, piece of film-making, and a welcome antidote to less subtle portrayals of Franco-American relations.
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