Directed by: Julie Delpy
Starring: Julie Delpy, Chris Rock, Albert Delpy, Kate Burton, Dylan Baker, Daniel Bruhl, Alexia Landeau, Alex Nahon
French photographer Delpy is living with her new boyfriend (Rock) when her father (Albert Delpy), sister (Landeau), and sister's friend (Nahon) come to visit her new home in New York.
First of all I'd like to convey a message to film-makers from the bottom of my heart. PLEASE, ENOUGH WITH THE CELEBRITY CAMEOS! YOU'RE MAKING A MOVIE NOT A FUCKING EPISODE OF "HAPPY DAYS"! This crass stunt seems to be polluting every other movie in recent years. I recall it first with Bill Murray's cringeworthy appearance as himself in "Zombieland". Sigourney Weaver seems to have based her entire current career on these parts. The cameo by Vincent Gallo in this film is particularly mishandled. Most viewers have no idea who Gallo is (Only the director of the best movie of the nineties and the worst movie of the noughties!), so the script has him literally list his achievements. Please, no more, it's really irritating, it's cheap, it's not clever and it never improves any film. Enough!
Okay, better move on before the exclamation key on my laptop breaks. The movie itself? Well it begins very promisingly, an alternative spin on a worn out theme, the culture clash comedy. The first twenty minutes or so are laugh out loud, the director's father and Rock are brilliantly uncomfortable together. As the narrative expands though more and more cliches enter the mix. If I have any French readers perhaps you could explain your country's juvenile obsession with bodily functions? It's 2012, do you seriously still snigger at the sight of a bare backside? This toilet humor rendered the French characters no more than an obnoxious bunch of prats. At one point Delpy Snr keys a limo and the audience are expected to laugh along with him. Sorry that's not comedy, that's called being an asshole.
Thankfully there's no reference made to Delpy and Rock's mixed relationship but Rock's character is reduced to a stereotype thanks to countless scenes of him conversing with a lifesize cardboard Obama. The great shame is that Rock is a genuinely talented comic performer and this could have been a chance for him to stretch his acting chops. He's easily the best part of the film but sadly also the smallest part. This guy is crying out for a lead role in a Woody Allen movie.
What had the potential to be a sophisticated comedy is ultimately let down by a brand of humor that even Adam Sandler would find crude. It certainly won't improve Franco-American relations.
5/10