Review of 2 Days in New York (2012) by Rob P — 06 May 2012

I saw 2 Days in New York this morning through Talk Cinema at the Century Theater in Chicago on Clark Street. It is Julie Delpy's sequel to 2 Days in Paris. But instead of the whining Adam Goldberg, Delpy's character has romanced Chris Rock playing "Mingus.".

Some in our Talk Cinema audience compared it in our audience to the "new wave" of Woody Allen movie with myopic characters set in New York. Apparently, according to Columbia College film professor Ron Falzone (and recent director of his own effort- Close Quarters), the film has had a lot of criticism based on comparisons to Before and After Sunset. However, he pointed out that those romances (also co-penned by Julie Delpy) are meant to draw in the viewer whereas this movie is meant to be more observational.

I disagree. I was drawn in by Chris Rock's character. He's "the American" in a family full of crazy Parisians who come to visit and drive all semblance of sanity from the family's semi-sane life.

The story is told in what I felt were three parts. At first, like the company, there is a sense of emotional warmth that comes with the kookiness. Delpy introduces the audience to her family, and in particular, her father (played by her real-life father) through a series of family pictures and a story of his life.

Next, the story part starts to lose some of its shine with the visiting family, as the story slows down and more pictures are shown of their tourist round of New York, until the pictures are slowly gone from the visual. Meanwhile, the company's visit (and your comfort with their craziness and the relationship starts to get more strained). It is this part of the movie, which frankly is a large part of the movie that is hard to like, as the characters become so unlikable.

The last part transitions to a point where there is a little bit of redemption for Delpy's character and her family's presence is integral to that redemption for her.

In all, I think the middle part of the movie was just so frustrating because the characters were so annoying and that took up so much of the movie-time but the movie is really well-done for what it is and in the end I liked it.