‘Paris-Manhattan’: A sparkly French romantic comedy

Any Woody Allen film lover has surely found themselves thinking ‘Oh Woody, you are so wise’ at some point in at least one of his films, but it’s fair to say the sweet,  light-hearted, French romantic comedy ‘Paris- Manhattan’ takes this statement to a whole other level.

Written and directed by newcomer Sophie Lellouche, ‘Paris-Manhattan’ screened at the 2012 Alliance Française French Film Festival with delightful reviews. Beautifully shot and scored, this slightly kooky film is a must for any lover of Woody Allen, romantic comedies – or both!

Single French female

Meet Alice Ovitz (the gorgeous Alice Taglioni), a single, thirty-something French pharmacist who looks to find all of life’s answers within the dialogue of Woody Allen movies. She spends her days dispensing his DVD’s to her customers along with pharmaceutical prescriptions and goes home alone at night, partaking in meaningful, lengthy conversations with the huge Woody Allen poster on her wall.

Alice’s concerned Jewish family are forever trying to set her up with many (highly unsuitable) suitors, usually having very little success. Alice attends a terribly dull party and winds up sharing the elevator with handsome security expert, Victor (the charming Patrick Bruel), who kindly offers to walk her home.

French fun and games

The two characters stroll though romantic Paris in the evening exchanging quirky, witty banter, and from here on in we follow Alice and Victor along the rocky road to possible true love. (The fact that Victor installs burglar alarms as his profession gives us hint as to how hard he has to work to crack Alice’s heart!)

It soon becomes evident that perhaps only Mr. Allen himself can live up to Alice’s expectations…

Without giving anything away, there are some truly hilarious scenes that really add to this French film’s overall endearing charm.

Featuring voice-overs plus a cameo appearance by Woody himself (a very nice touch indeed), ‘Paris-Manhattan’ is really a lively, delightful little film that hums along nicely with cheerful, intelligent  dialogue, fabulous characters and of course, romantic, glittering Paris as the backdrop.

What’s not to love?