LE DIVORCE

When Isabel Walker (Hudson) sets off from her home in California for a prolonged visit to her pregnant sister Roxanne de Persand (Watts) in Paris, she doesn’t realize that she is walking into the middle of a marital breakup. Even as she arrives, Roxanne’s French husband Charles-Henri (Melvil Poupaud) is walking out the door, leaving his wife, their young daughter Gennie (Esmée Buchet-Deak), and the unborn baby Roxanne is carrying. Although the situation saddens Isabel, she can’t help but enjoy the Parisian lifestyle, and she soon gets a job organizing the literary papers of noted liberal American poet and women’s activist Olivia Pace (Glenn Close), who is donating them to the University of Tulsa. Meanwhile she falls in love with a scruffy Frenchman named Yves (Romain Duris), who also works for Pace. Her affair with him is put on hold, however, when she becomes attracted to a wealthy diplomat named Edgar Cossett (Thierry Lhermitte), a politician with the sexual appetites of Bill Clinton and the politics of George W. Bush. But better looking than either. And he’s also the brother of Charles-Henri’s propriety-obsessed mother (Leslie Caron).

Isabel’s romantic pursuits could be considered the typical adventures of any young woman in Paris, but trouble starts when Roxanne’s in-law family seeks legal counsel regarding the separation of property between her and Charles-Henri. The dispute particularly concerns a beautiful painting of Ste. Ursula, the patron saint of young girls, which may or may not have been painted by the famous 17th-century French artist Georges de La Tour (and therefore could be worth millions). The painting, given to Charles-Henri and Roxanne as a wedding present by her parents (Sam Waterston, Stockard Channing), was a Walker family heirloom for generations, but since it was a gift to the couple, his family claims joint ownership. Soon all the above family members and others join together for a strained summit meeting on the situation, culminating in an ill-fated trip to the Eiffel Tower.

Although this film has its lighthearted moments, it probably shouldn’t be seen by anyone going through a painful separation, as it seems mostly to be about people being careless with each other’s hearts. Few of the characters are really likable people, as most are either obsessed with money, appearances, or themselves, and therefore it is somewhat difficult to bond with any of them. However, the beautiful scenery of Paris is presented with the traditional style of a Merchant/Ivory production, and although this is not a period piece, it is clear the wardrobe department was doing its best to provide clothing to counteract the character problem, offering a wide variety of garments showcasing the versatility of Hudson’s fabulous derrière. Hudson is of course her cute, bubbly self, and even when her butt is offscreen, she carries herself admirably and reaches some emotional colors which betray her underrated talent for real acting. Watts is similarly effective; although her character is less prominent and she spends most of the film being hurt, angry, and/or weepy, while growing in size all the time, she is able to achieve a subtlety of behavior that can be quite arrestingly real.

The film’s conclusion turns out much more happily than most divorces probably do, but, well, Paris is the city of light, isn’t it? ****