Amazon.com

While American history buffs and Gwyneth Paltrow fans will want to ownthis movie justbecause, it actually compels the viewer to examine the life of our third president a little more closely. Jefferson focuses on the mid-1780s, when widower and pre-presidency Jefferson (NickNolte) replaces Benjamin Franklin as the U.S. representative to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. A livelyperiod, to say the least. And lively, too, is Jefferson, keeping time with a married woman (Greta Scacchi).Also in Paris is one of Jefferson's six children, his eldest daughter Patsy (Paltrow), who went on to have12 children of her own--remarkable for the time. When another daughter dies back in Virginia, Jeffersonsends for his youngest, who brings along her slave, Sally Hemings (a luminescent Thandie Newton), then15. As nearly everyone knows now, Jefferson allegedly had a long relationship with Hemings and, reportedly, several children with her. This Merchant-Ivory production, written by frequent collaborator Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, languidly attempts to depict a complete portrait of the obviously complex and conflicted Jefferson, who kept slaves but penned the Declaration of Independence.

Initially, Nolte may seem an odd choice--he doesn't resemble the familiar visage on a nickel (or $2 bill). Still, Nolte's performance and his contemporary feel lend a credibility and immediacy to the fascinating story--however true or apocryphal it may be. --Nadine Mendoza ... Read more

Reviews (14)

An okay movie
Jefferson in Paris is an alright movie. It is to long and quite boring. The movie starts out with Sally Hemings's son Madison telling the story of his mother's relationship with Thomas Jefferson. Most of the movie focuses on Jefferson's relationship with Maria Cosway. Why would they have Sally's descendant tell of Jefferson's relationship with another woman besides his mother? Sally doesn't even enter the movie until the end and that is when the movie gets good. The actors did a great job considering the boring roles they had and Nick Nolte and Thandie Newton were superb. If you can sit through the beginning of this movie then I recommend this movie. If you can't save your money.

A realistic true to life drama about a rather complex man.
"jefferson in Paris" is a realistc historically based film about the third President of the United states. It traces carefully, without overdoing it, his humanistic affairs with Maria Cosway from which the famous "Head and Heart" letters were written. Most importantly, it shows the skeptics that Mr. Jefferson did fall in love and enjoy a fruitful life with the woman of his choice. And not the one "people" may have wanted to choose for him. I believe the movie also dpicted what could be called an "almost too close" relationship with his daughter Martha. But, with nothing concrete, that relationship is left to the viewers discretion. Al in All, worthwile viewing.

Best film about our early history
Although some people may find this film boring, it may not be their type of film. For anyone who wants to see a film about one of our most fascinating Founding Fathers, this is the film to watch and own. Its my favorite film about any of the presidents and I wish they would make more of them. I especially loved the actress who played Marie Antoinette. She embodied exactly how I pictured Marie Antoinette to look and act when I only read about her. The same goes for Lambert Wilson, who played the Marquis de Lafayette...exactly as I had imagined him. My favorite performance though, goes to Thandi Newton as Sally Hemmings. Seeing her in this film when it first came out made me take notice of her and follow her career with interest. What I love most about this film is the glimpse it gives viewers of life during the pre-revolutionary period in France, and shows the absurdities of ritualized Court life and why the people demanded change. King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were simply out of touch with ordinary people, and our Ambassador to France Thomas Jefferson was a first hand witness to it all. The film ends too abruptly for me. I would have liked a greater resolution than that...but since films like these are rare, and I wish that Hollywood made more films about our Founding Fathers, I can't complain with what this film accomplishes. Its certainly a lot better than the made for TV, "Sally Hemings" mini-series.

Long, boring and offensive (to me anyway).
Long and boring sum's this film up, and its anti-English (like most American film's these day's). Though you probably don't care about that. I'm going to keep this review short because this film does not deserve a long one.
Complete load of garbage.

Captivating
An engaging and thought-provoking movie; one of the best movies I've seen in a while. I didn't find it boring at all, the human drama unfolding in front of me had my full attention. I'm not judging it from the historical point of view, I'm sure history buffs can find plenty things wrong with it. But to me it wasn't about the facts; it could be set in any historical period, as far as I'm concerned. It is a story about human emotions, and, like the real world, it has an ambiguous feel to it; lots of grey, lots to think about. So if you're into "soap opera" love stories with a happy (or unhappy) ending, don't waste your time, you'll be bored. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Funny and Touching
A collection of 7 short stories about 7 totally different female characters. Supporting cast is superb, Alan Arkin, Peter Sellers, Micheal Caine, Rosanno Bratzi, etc.Maclaine does a wonderful job of capturing the differences amoung woman, along with making the audience feel empathy for all of her character's situations. Lots of marvelous scenes in this movie. The rich socialite dress fiasco and the italian philanderer are my favorites. ... Read more

Reviews (71)

The Merchant Ivory Team finally misfires
Over the years we have learned to expect films of great beauty, intelligence, style, and elegance from the entire team at Merchant Ivory. Why they chose this slight piece of fluff when they are used to illuminating EM Forster, Henry James, etc remains a mystery. Essentially this story is a battle of FrancoAmerican social amenities (or lack thereof) contrived over an abrupt divorce: French husband leaves pregnant American wife for a married lover and the ambiguites of French divorce proceedings conflict with American ones with a American owned French hierloom painting by La Tour as the dangling 'miscreant'. The script is poorly devised, though the idea of half of the film being democratically spoken in French has its merits. The cinematography is nice: when doesn't Paris look stunning? But the real jolt in this unsuccessful venture is the waste of using actors of the highest quality to try to make this fluff merit attention. Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Leslie Caron, Stockard Channing, Glenn Close, Stephen Fry, Sam Waterston, Thierry Lhermitte, Matthew Modine etc have the grace to seem serious about the project, but their performances are flat due primarily to the script, but also to the direction (or lack thereof). One is reminded of Robert Altman's films, casting 'stars' in minute moments just to validate an otherwise pallid project. Not a film to recommend.

Beautiful to Look at, But Awfully Unfunny and Unpleasant
Excuse me if I sound too harsh, but I have to say this. James Ivory film was never so humorless and pointless as "Le Divorce," wasting everything and everyone who must have gathered here simply because of the name of the director. Sorry that I have to say so, but it was a painful experience to sit through the two hours watching this mess.

The premise based on the bestselling novel of the same title is promising. Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson are American sisters. Naomi is married to a French, who turned out unfaithful at the beginning of the film, and we see him leaving the apartment in Paris, where Kate arrives at the exact moment when he ditches (when his wife is pregnant). Naomi's character Roxeanne refuses to divorce (for no other reason than ... well, we are not allowed to know), while Kate's sister Isabel falls in love with a guy (and husband), watching him in a show on TV.

Now, it should be the time for hilarious culture-clash comedy, or at least some good romantic comedy against the backdrop of the beautiful city of Paris. And Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson can really act, as you know, plus you get delightful Stockard Channing as their mom flying all over from America. You also get Stephen Fry, Bebe Neuworth, Jean-Marc Barr, Leslie Caron, and even Glenn Close.

And what happened? A mess. A real mess. Don't be mistaken, please. The photography is great, showing the charms of the city. And I do not particlulary disagree with the descriptions of the French. Well, they may not like talking about money; they do not care much about infidelty; no, no, I just don't know these things, but the film suggests so.

The real problem is its characters, or the way the film shows them on the screen. In short, you can relate to none of them. French may act like this, but the problem is, THE FILM FAILS TO MAKE THEM CHARMING. It is quite unfunny to see a pregnant woman deserted unless the hubby in case has some redeeming quality. In "Le Divorce" there is none. And you see wrist-cutting; stalker, and murder. What do these things mean?

Or see Kate Hudson. It is quite disheartening for us to see a grown-up American female (and played by Kate 'Penny Lane' Hudson') fall in love with a cardboard character, simply because he looks great and speaks French. And it seems that Kate thinks he is gorgeous (actually, he is not) and marvellous even after she knows that she is just one of many affairs. If this is a typical case of love in France, the film should be dealt with more delicate touch and convincing characters.

The sub-plot about the painting is just as uninteresting as the main one, and the film, with so many great locations, adds up to nothing. It's all about the fantastic costumes and hairduts, but the they can hardly cover up the fact that "Le Divorce" is awfully empty and its values are quite dated. Avoid it.

Le Divorce is Tres Horrible!
The trailer for this movie looked so appealing, and then I saw it. All this picture led me to think is that Kate Hudson is one of the luckiest young celebrities in show business. She can coast on the fact that Goldie Hawn is her mother and make movies that are 10 times worse than any bad flick her mother has ever made.
All Le Divorce really adds up to is another chance to shoot scenes with Kate in bed--never mind who with--period. I don't hate her as an actress, but her exceptional roles are few and far between. In fact, you could confuse her with Heather Graham.
Also, shame on Leslie Caron for being a party to this lousy endorsement of kept women in modern day France. After her portrayal of Gigi, a favorite heroin who revolts against that sort of sexism in early 1900's France, it's a slap in the face to see her play a mother-in-law who's willing to put up with it!
There's no delicate way to sum up this cinematic turkey: Le Divorce makes moi want to vomitte!

How to spend millions in a really bad movie
I'm not american and i don't know how difficult could be the relations between USA and France, but what I know is: This is the worst picture I ever saw!!!
It's a shame to watch excelent actors work on a project with no sense. Maybe the book is good but the movie is stupid. I like romantic movies but this movie sucks.

Excuse, I'm angry >(

Le Boring
I won't speak for the book because I haven't read it, and I'm not French. If I was French, however, I imagine that I might feel insulted. The movie seems to scream at the viewer that the French are evil, gauche, and utterly frivolous, while Americans are victims, innocent and pure. While neither can be the case, it is ridiculous to taut such views.

The characters in the movie as well as their interactions, comings and goings make no sense. No one has a reason for doing what they do or going where they go. Kate Hudson's character falls in love with two men that she barely knows and is in no way a support to her sister whose French husband mysteriously runs off with a Russian woman. The evil French husband then does all he can to be utterly unfair to poor Roxy (his wife). He wants to take her children, her family's painting, ie everything he can for reasons that the movie does not go into.

What bothers me more than ridiculous people doing ridiculous things for ridiculous reasons is when movie writers have cardboard cutout people do ridiculous things for reasons that are kept hidden from us. From the scene where Kate Hudson gets a strange haircut for seemingly no reason, I simply lost interest in the story.

Also, the writers were trying to elicit emotions where their wasn't sufficient development for there to be any. Examples were the murder of the cheating husband and his girlfriend, the selling of the painting, the suicide of Roxy, the mad gun battle on the Eiffel Tower, etc. Need I go on? Save your time and your money. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Top marks for the Godard episode
The only remarkable sketch in the European omnibus film about prostitution through the ages is Jean Luc Godard's "Anticipation", the futuristic section. Filmed in the vein of "Alphaville", a soldier calls for a prostitute. The first one, Physical Love, doesn't excite him. He calls for a second, Eleanor Romeovitch aka Intellectual Love, embodied by the entrancing Anna Karina in her last Godard film. She tells him that they can communicate and make love at the same time... by kissing! A witty,witty short film.

Great Sketch Comedy!!
This French film is a great sketch comedy about the history of prostitution starting from prehistoric to modern times featuring a role by Raquel Welch.It's a must see!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Josiane Balasko wrote, directed, and costars in this lightweight French comedy about a lesbian (Balasko) who falls for a housewife (Victoria Abril) seething over the philandering of her husband (Alain Chabat). The latter is outraged about his spouse's same-sex affair, but over time, the two rivals make peace with the situation--causing Abril's character to throw a hissy fit of her own. This is a cute film that becomes, thank goodness, more interesting as it goes along, challenging comfortable notions about love as a haven from other challenges to the heart. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Some kind of politically-correct morality play?
OK, so the guy's a jerk, but in the end he accepts his wife's female lover as part of the family --- sounds like a new Disney movie to me!

Actually, Josiane Balasko did a decent job directing this film, but casting herself as the truck-driving lesbian was a bit too much! Yes, it was realistic --- but therein lies the problem! Visually, I'd have much rather seen a hot-looking, sexy, dark-haired woman seducing the beautiful Victoria Abril. I mean, to put it a different way: beautiful bodies a more enjoyable film do make!

An OK but not a Very Good Film
This is not a very good film. It is supposed to be a comedy. Unfortunately, Josiane Balasko, so wonderful as Gerard Depardieu's forbidden love interest in Bertrand Blier's "Too Beautiful for You" (1990), shows here that she can be a heavy-handed director, a comedy screenwriter without wit, and a comic actress who simply isn't funny.

This is a movie with no good lines, unforgivable in a comedy. There are, however, two bright lights in the film, the only actors who do manage to be funny: Ticky Holgado, a supporting actor who plays the business partner and best friend of the humorless male lead (Alain Chabat), and the ever delightful Victoria Abril, one of the two female stars of the love triangle (the other being the humorless Ms. Balasko), whose physical displays almost save the film.

Victoria Abril is a wonderful and underrated actress, still breathtakingly gorgeous at age 36 (recognizable to most viewers from Pedro Almodovar's "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!"), who displays her physical gifts with wit and abandon. For some people her presence will be enough to justify purchasing this DVD. This writer, in fact, despite his negativity toward the film, purchased the DVD while owning the VHS tape, but he confesses unashamedly to having been secretly in love with Ms. Abril for almost two decades, even with her clothes on.

This film enjoyed an enormous box-office success in France, and has pleased most American movie critics. It is not without entertainment value. But it could have been so much more.

Even a cinnamon twist is not this good!
I had no idea what I was getting into when I got this movie. As a huge foreign film buff there I was taking a gander at this movie and realizing the script was totally hilarious.

Basically it focuses on this married couple who have two children, a French family. And of course, the man, not wanting to offend all of the women he's ever met, sleeps with them all. (Side note, it is actually a compliment when men make passes in France, it is offensive to not do it, it means the female is not worth trying with; interesting huh?)

Anyway, hubby cheats, the devoted wife finds that a dyke passerby can fix things, be there for her, and even have dinner.

A steamy romance ensues with the wife and her new woman and the cheating hubby does not take it to well.

You will laugh your ass off in this movie! I don't want to spoil it, but suffice it to say, I bet the script writer has had a very interesting marriage!

A surprisingly good and funny film...
I've seen this film a few times now. Each time I see it, I show it to a friend who hasn't seen it. They all loved it. Makes me like it that much more when I see them enjoying it.

"French Twist" is about a cheating husband has to deal with the fact that his neglected wife has found another love interest... a woman. That he cheats on his wife on a regular basis is not the issue, to him. His ego and pride being stepped on by the whole situation is the problem and it makes for some very funny material.

The three main characters (Josiane Balasko, Victoria Abril and Alain Chabat) work extremely well together. Just bouncing lines off one another and interacting beautifully. Just when it looks like all will work out another element is added to stir the fire.

The film was written and directed by Balasko who also stars as the "other" woman who's looking for love and destroying a home. Or is she? Chabat is amazingly funny as the philandering husband and Abril is also very good and quite beautiful as the passionate, yet somewhat confused wife.

Check it out for yourself. Don't let the subtitles hold you back. It doesn't take away from the film at all. Get ready to laugh.

Ridiculous Lesbian Fantasy
Anyone who has ever read lesbian erotica will recognize some of the plot elements of this silly movie. The naive, ultrafemme, housewife, who slaves all day for a selfish, uncaring, philadering husband, meets a wonderful, butch lesbian and within a short while (a couple of hours?)is seduced by her charms. Rescuing "straight" women from unhappy marriages is a huge theme of lesbian erotica. It's a rather unbelievable premise, and this movie makes it seem even more implausible. I just did not believe that the homely, overweight, and repulsive Marijo could be irresistable to the gorgeous Loli. It wasn't until I discovered that the director had cast herself in the role of Marijo did I understand- if you were in the position to decide who gets to do love scenes with Victoria Abril would you take one for yourself? Obviously, Josiane Balasko is a smart woman. (It sort of reminded me of a "Seinfield" episode- you know the ones in which ugly, dorky Jerry and ugly, dorky George somehow always manage to get dates with impossibly beautiful women. It's that implausible!)

Overall, this move had some laughs, but its premise was absurd and by the end of the film I detested everyone of these characters. They were just so selfish! As Helen Lovejoy says: "Will someone please think of the children!" ... Read more

Reviews (71)

The Merchant Ivory Team finally misfires
Over the years we have learned to expect films of great beauty, intelligence, style, and elegance from the entire team at Merchant Ivory. Why they chose this slight piece of fluff when they are used to illuminating EM Forster, Henry James, etc remains a mystery. Essentially this story is a battle of FrancoAmerican social amenities (or lack thereof) contrived over an abrupt divorce: French husband leaves pregnant American wife for a married lover and the ambiguites of French divorce proceedings conflict with American ones with a American owned French hierloom painting by La Tour as the dangling 'miscreant'. The script is poorly devised, though the idea of half of the film being democratically spoken in French has its merits. The cinematography is nice: when doesn't Paris look stunning? But the real jolt in this unsuccessful venture is the waste of using actors of the highest quality to try to make this fluff merit attention. Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Leslie Caron, Stockard Channing, Glenn Close, Stephen Fry, Sam Waterston, Thierry Lhermitte, Matthew Modine etc have the grace to seem serious about the project, but their performances are flat due primarily to the script, but also to the direction (or lack thereof). One is reminded of Robert Altman's films, casting 'stars' in minute moments just to validate an otherwise pallid project. Not a film to recommend.

Beautiful to Look at, But Awfully Unfunny and Unpleasant
Excuse me if I sound too harsh, but I have to say this. James Ivory film was never so humorless and pointless as "Le Divorce," wasting everything and everyone who must have gathered here simply because of the name of the director. Sorry that I have to say so, but it was a painful experience to sit through the two hours watching this mess.

The premise based on the bestselling novel of the same title is promising. Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson are American sisters. Naomi is married to a French, who turned out unfaithful at the beginning of the film, and we see him leaving the apartment in Paris, where Kate arrives at the exact moment when he ditches (when his wife is pregnant). Naomi's character Roxeanne refuses to divorce (for no other reason than ... well, we are not allowed to know), while Kate's sister Isabel falls in love with a guy (and husband), watching him in a show on TV.

Now, it should be the time for hilarious culture-clash comedy, or at least some good romantic comedy against the backdrop of the beautiful city of Paris. And Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson can really act, as you know, plus you get delightful Stockard Channing as their mom flying all over from America. You also get Stephen Fry, Bebe Neuworth, Jean-Marc Barr, Leslie Caron, and even Glenn Close.

And what happened? A mess. A real mess. Don't be mistaken, please. The photography is great, showing the charms of the city. And I do not particlulary disagree with the descriptions of the French. Well, they may not like talking about money; they do not care much about infidelty; no, no, I just don't know these things, but the film suggests so.

The real problem is its characters, or the way the film shows them on the screen. In short, you can relate to none of them. French may act like this, but the problem is, THE FILM FAILS TO MAKE THEM CHARMING. It is quite unfunny to see a pregnant woman deserted unless the hubby in case has some redeeming quality. In "Le Divorce" there is none. And you see wrist-cutting; stalker, and murder. What do these things mean?

Or see Kate Hudson. It is quite disheartening for us to see a grown-up American female (and played by Kate 'Penny Lane' Hudson') fall in love with a cardboard character, simply because he looks great and speaks French. And it seems that Kate thinks he is gorgeous (actually, he is not) and marvellous even after she knows that she is just one of many affairs. If this is a typical case of love in France, the film should be dealt with more delicate touch and convincing characters.

The sub-plot about the painting is just as uninteresting as the main one, and the film, with so many great locations, adds up to nothing. It's all about the fantastic costumes and hairduts, but the they can hardly cover up the fact that "Le Divorce" is awfully empty and its values are quite dated. Avoid it.

Le Divorce is Tres Horrible!
The trailer for this movie looked so appealing, and then I saw it. All this picture led me to think is that Kate Hudson is one of the luckiest young celebrities in show business. She can coast on the fact that Goldie Hawn is her mother and make movies that are 10 times worse than any bad flick her mother has ever made.
All Le Divorce really adds up to is another chance to shoot scenes with Kate in bed--never mind who with--period. I don't hate her as an actress, but her exceptional roles are few and far between. In fact, you could confuse her with Heather Graham.
Also, shame on Leslie Caron for being a party to this lousy endorsement of kept women in modern day France. After her portrayal of Gigi, a favorite heroin who revolts against that sort of sexism in early 1900's France, it's a slap in the face to see her play a mother-in-law who's willing to put up with it!
There's no delicate way to sum up this cinematic turkey: Le Divorce makes moi want to vomitte!

How to spend millions in a really bad movie
I'm not american and i don't know how difficult could be the relations between USA and France, but what I know is: This is the worst picture I ever saw!!!
It's a shame to watch excelent actors work on a project with no sense. Maybe the book is good but the movie is stupid. I like romantic movies but this movie sucks.

Excuse, I'm angry >(

Le Boring
I won't speak for the book because I haven't read it, and I'm not French. If I was French, however, I imagine that I might feel insulted. The movie seems to scream at the viewer that the French are evil, gauche, and utterly frivolous, while Americans are victims, innocent and pure. While neither can be the case, it is ridiculous to taut such views.

The characters in the movie as well as their interactions, comings and goings make no sense. No one has a reason for doing what they do or going where they go. Kate Hudson's character falls in love with two men that she barely knows and is in no way a support to her sister whose French husband mysteriously runs off with a Russian woman. The evil French husband then does all he can to be utterly unfair to poor Roxy (his wife). He wants to take her children, her family's painting, ie everything he can for reasons that the movie does not go into.

What bothers me more than ridiculous people doing ridiculous things for ridiculous reasons is when movie writers have cardboard cutout people do ridiculous things for reasons that are kept hidden from us. From the scene where Kate Hudson gets a strange haircut for seemingly no reason, I simply lost interest in the story.

Also, the writers were trying to elicit emotions where their wasn't sufficient development for there to be any. Examples were the murder of the cheating husband and his girlfriend, the selling of the painting, the suicide of Roxy, the mad gun battle on the Eiffel Tower, etc. Need I go on? Save your time and your money. ... Read more

Reviews (71)

The Merchant Ivory Team finally misfires
Over the years we have learned to expect films of great beauty, intelligence, style, and elegance from the entire team at Merchant Ivory. Why they chose this slight piece of fluff when they are used to illuminating EM Forster, Henry James, etc remains a mystery. Essentially this story is a battle of FrancoAmerican social amenities (or lack thereof) contrived over an abrupt divorce: French husband leaves pregnant American wife for a married lover and the ambiguites of French divorce proceedings conflict with American ones with a American owned French hierloom painting by La Tour as the dangling 'miscreant'. The script is poorly devised, though the idea of half of the film being democratically spoken in French has its merits. The cinematography is nice: when doesn't Paris look stunning? But the real jolt in this unsuccessful venture is the waste of using actors of the highest quality to try to make this fluff merit attention. Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts, Leslie Caron, Stockard Channing, Glenn Close, Stephen Fry, Sam Waterston, Thierry Lhermitte, Matthew Modine etc have the grace to seem serious about the project, but their performances are flat due primarily to the script, but also to the direction (or lack thereof). One is reminded of Robert Altman's films, casting 'stars' in minute moments just to validate an otherwise pallid project. Not a film to recommend.

Beautiful to Look at, But Awfully Unfunny and Unpleasant
Excuse me if I sound too harsh, but I have to say this. James Ivory film was never so humorless and pointless as "Le Divorce," wasting everything and everyone who must have gathered here simply because of the name of the director. Sorry that I have to say so, but it was a painful experience to sit through the two hours watching this mess.

The premise based on the bestselling novel of the same title is promising. Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson are American sisters. Naomi is married to a French, who turned out unfaithful at the beginning of the film, and we see him leaving the apartment in Paris, where Kate arrives at the exact moment when he ditches (when his wife is pregnant). Naomi's character Roxeanne refuses to divorce (for no other reason than ... well, we are not allowed to know), while Kate's sister Isabel falls in love with a guy (and husband), watching him in a show on TV.

Now, it should be the time for hilarious culture-clash comedy, or at least some good romantic comedy against the backdrop of the beautiful city of Paris. And Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson can really act, as you know, plus you get delightful Stockard Channing as their mom flying all over from America. You also get Stephen Fry, Bebe Neuworth, Jean-Marc Barr, Leslie Caron, and even Glenn Close.

And what happened? A mess. A real mess. Don't be mistaken, please. The photography is great, showing the charms of the city. And I do not particlulary disagree with the descriptions of the French. Well, they may not like talking about money; they do not care much about infidelty; no, no, I just don't know these things, but the film suggests so.

The real problem is its characters, or the way the film shows them on the screen. In short, you can relate to none of them. French may act like this, but the problem is, THE FILM FAILS TO MAKE THEM CHARMING. It is quite unfunny to see a pregnant woman deserted unless the hubby in case has some redeeming quality. In "Le Divorce" there is none. And you see wrist-cutting; stalker, and murder. What do these things mean?

Or see Kate Hudson. It is quite disheartening for us to see a grown-up American female (and played by Kate 'Penny Lane' Hudson') fall in love with a cardboard character, simply because he looks great and speaks French. And it seems that Kate thinks he is gorgeous (actually, he is not) and marvellous even after she knows that she is just one of many affairs. If this is a typical case of love in France, the film should be dealt with more delicate touch and convincing characters.

The sub-plot about the painting is just as uninteresting as the main one, and the film, with so many great locations, adds up to nothing. It's all about the fantastic costumes and hairduts, but the they can hardly cover up the fact that "Le Divorce" is awfully empty and its values are quite dated. Avoid it.

Le Divorce is Tres Horrible!
The trailer for this movie looked so appealing, and then I saw it. All this picture led me to think is that Kate Hudson is one of the luckiest young celebrities in show business. She can coast on the fact that Goldie Hawn is her mother and make movies that are 10 times worse than any bad flick her mother has ever made.
All Le Divorce really adds up to is another chance to shoot scenes with Kate in bed--never mind who with--period. I don't hate her as an actress, but her exceptional roles are few and far between. In fact, you could confuse her with Heather Graham.
Also, shame on Leslie Caron for being a party to this lousy endorsement of kept women in modern day France. After her portrayal of Gigi, a favorite heroin who revolts against that sort of sexism in early 1900's France, it's a slap in the face to see her play a mother-in-law who's willing to put up with it!
There's no delicate way to sum up this cinematic turkey: Le Divorce makes moi want to vomitte!

How to spend millions in a really bad movie
I'm not american and i don't know how difficult could be the relations between USA and France, but what I know is: This is the worst picture I ever saw!!!
It's a shame to watch excelent actors work on a project with no sense. Maybe the book is good but the movie is stupid. I like romantic movies but this movie sucks.

Excuse, I'm angry >(

Le Boring
I won't speak for the book because I haven't read it, and I'm not French. If I was French, however, I imagine that I might feel insulted. The movie seems to scream at the viewer that the French are evil, gauche, and utterly frivolous, while Americans are victims, innocent and pure. While neither can be the case, it is ridiculous to taut such views.

The characters in the movie as well as their interactions, comings and goings make no sense. No one has a reason for doing what they do or going where they go. Kate Hudson's character falls in love with two men that she barely knows and is in no way a support to her sister whose French husband mysteriously runs off with a Russian woman. The evil French husband then does all he can to be utterly unfair to poor Roxy (his wife). He wants to take her children, her family's painting, ie everything he can for reasons that the movie does not go into.

What bothers me more than ridiculous people doing ridiculous things for ridiculous reasons is when movie writers have cardboard cutout people do ridiculous things for reasons that are kept hidden from us. From the scene where Kate Hudson gets a strange haircut for seemingly no reason, I simply lost interest in the story.

Also, the writers were trying to elicit emotions where their wasn't sufficient development for there to be any. Examples were the murder of the cheating husband and his girlfriend, the selling of the painting, the suicide of Roxy, the mad gun battle on the Eiffel Tower, etc. Need I go on? Save your time and your money. ... Read more