"Paris Can Wait"

I viewed Paris Can Wait twice, and prior to the ending, I enjoyed it well enough both times—and I appreciated the film more the second time. The first time, prior to the conclusion, I was thinking, "pretty good," and the second time, prior to the conclusion, I was thinking, "good." Writer-director-producer Eleanor Coppola keeps the tone light, but the film is more nuanced, mature, and textured than the "chick flick" that it might have seemed to be. She makes fine use of the French locations, effectively mixing longer shots with closeups (of food, primarily) to create a colorful visual balance. The film is shrewdly paced and nicely scored with a breezy, low-key jazz soundtrack, and the long shots of Paris at dusk or night, from the road, are mesmerizing and memorable. Diane Lane is excellent—she plays a nuanced character in a completely natural way, as if she is not even acting (as is her knack)—and Arnaud Viard is also naturalistic and effective. Overall, the film is quite seductive, charming, atmospheric, and gently humorous, without strain.

Unfortunately, on both occasions, I found the denouement to be problematic and a letdown: too cutesy and ill-fitting with the nuance and maturity that had come before. The conclusion is not implausible, especially given the the leanings of the road trip's latter stages, but it still does not feel right to me—it does not quite fit the character that Lane has established. Coppola opts for lifelike intricacy throughout the film and then embraces a rather commercial, "have your cake and eat it too" ending. As noted in the opening credits, Paris Can Wait is a "Lifetime Movie," only it does not necessarily play that way until the end, when it suddenly becomes a full-fledged "Lifetime Movie." Thus on both occasions, I downgraded the film to "decent"—in effect, a good movie becomes merely decent due to an ending that takes carefully constructed nuance and throws it into a blender.